Traditional dynamic vibration absorbers (DVAs) consist of a mass-spring-damper system and are an effective means of attenuating structural vibration over a narrow frequency band. The effective bandwidth of the DVA can be increased by the addition of an externally controlled force, generally applied between the reaction-mass and the primary structure. Such devices are known as hybrid DVAs. This thesis presents a new hybrid DVA configuration which utilizes two reaction-masses in parallel. On this proposed hybrid dual-mass (DM) DVA, the control force is applied between the reaction-masses. It is shown that in broadband control applications, the proposed DM-DVA requires less control force to achieve the same primary attenuation as the traditional hybrid single-mass (SM) DVA. The hybrid DM-DVA was compared to the hybrid SM-DVA with two tests. A numerical simulation of the hybrid DVAs attenuating a single-degree-of-freedom structure was performed. To achieve an equal amount of primary attenuation, the hybrid SM-DVA required 65% higher root-mean-square (RMS) control effort than the hybrid DV-DVA. The numerical model also demonstrated that the hybrid DM-DVA was less sensitive to changes in the system as compared to the hybrid SM-DVA. Additionally, a prototype hybrid DVA was built which could be configured as either the hybrid SM or DM-DVA. The prototype hybrid DVA was used with the feedforward Filtered-X LMS algorithm to control the vibration of a fixed-free beam. The hybrid SM and DM-DVAs attenuated the primary response by a factor of 11.5 and 12.3, while requiring control efforts of 4.9 and 2.7 V/N RMS, respectively. Thus, the hybrid DM-DVA required 45% less control effort while yielding a higher attenuation ratio in this experiment. These results demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed DM-DVA for broadband control applications as compared to the traditional SM-DVA. / Master of Science

As worldwide energy consumption continues to increase, so does the demand for renewable energy sources. The total available wave energy resource for the United States alone is 2,640 TWh/yr; nearly two thirds of the 4,000 TWh of electricity used in the United States each year. It is estimated that nearly half of that available energy is recoverable through wave energy conversion techniques. In this thesis, a two-body 'point absorber' type wave energy converter with a mechanical power-takeoff is investigated. The two-body wave energy converter extracts energy through the relative motion of a floating buoy and a neutrally buoyant submerged body. Using a linear frequency-domain model, analytical solutions of the optimal power and the corresponding power-takeoff components are derived for the two-body wave energy converter. Using these solutions, a case study is conducted to investigate the influence of the submerged body size on the absorbed power of the device in regular and irregular waves. Here it is found that an optimal mass ratio between the submerged body and floating buoy exists where the device will achieve resonance. Furthermore, a case study to investigate the influence of the submerged body shape on the absorbed power is conducted using a time-domain numerical model. Here it is found that the submerged body should be designed to reduce the effects of drag, but to maintain relatively large hydrodynamic added mass and excitation force. To validate the analytical and numerical models, a 1/30th scale model of a two-body wave energy converter is tested in a wave tank. The results of the wave tank tests show that the two-body wave energy converter can absorb nearly twice the energy of a single-body 'point absorber' type wave energy converter. / Master of Science

Ocean wave as a renewable energy source possesses great potential for solving the world energy crisis and benefit human beings. The total theoretical potential wave power on the ocean-facing coastlines of the world is around 30,000 TWh, although cannot all be adopted for generating electricity, the amount of the power can be absorbed still can occupy a large portion of the world's total energy consumption. However, multiple reasons have stopped the ocean wave energy from being widely adopted, and among those reasons, the most important one is immature of the Power Take-off (PTO) technology. In this dissertation, a self-reactive two-body wave energy point absorber that is embedded with a novel PTO using the unique mechanism of Mechanical Motion Rectifier (MMR) is investigated through design, analysis and testing to improve the energy harvesting efficiency and the reliability of the PTO. The MMR mechanism can transfer the reciprocated bi-directional movement of the ocean wave into unidirectional rotation of the generator. As a result, this mechanism brings in two advantages towards the PTO. The first advantage it possess is that the alternating stress of the PTO is changed into normal stress, hence the reliability of the components are expected to be improved significantly. The other advantage it brings in is a unique phenomenon of engagement and disengagement during the operation, which lead to a piecewise nonlinear dynamic property of the PTO. This nonlinearity of the PTO can contribute to an expanded frequency domain bandwidth and better efficiency, which are verified through both numerical simulation and in-lab experiment. During the in-lab test, the prototyped PTO achieved energy transfer efficiency as high as 81.2%, and over 40% of efficiency improvement compared with the traditional non-MMR PTO under low-speed condition, proving the previously proposed advantage. Through a more comprehensive study, the MMR PTO is further characterized and a refined dynamic model. The refined model can accurately predict the dynamic response of the PTO. The major factors that can influence the performance of the MMR PTO, which are the inertia of the PTO, the damping coefficient, and the excitation frequency, are explored through analysis and experiment comprehensively. The results show that the increase on the inertia of the PTO and excitation frequency, and decrease on the damping coefficient can lead to a longer disengagement of the PTO and can be expressed analytically. Besides the research on the PTO, the body structure of the point absorber is analyzed. Due to the low-frequency of the ocean wave excitation, usually a very large body dimension for the floating buoy of the point absorber is desired to match with that frequency. To solve this issue, a self-reactive two-body structure is designed where an additional frequency between the two interactive bodies are added to match the ocean wave frequency by adopting an additional reactive submerged body. The self-reactive two-body structure is tested in a wave to compare with the single body design. The results show that the two-body structure can successfully achieve the frequency matching function, and it can improve more than 50% of total power absorption compared with the single body design. / Doctor of Philosophy / Ocean wave as a renewable energy source possesses great potential for solving the world energy crisis and benefit human beings. The total theoretical potential wave power on the ocean-facing coastlines of the world is around 30,000 TWh, although impossible to be all transferred into electricity, the amount of the power can be absorbed still can cover a large portion of the world's total energy consumption. However, multiple reasons have stopped the ocean wave energy from being widely adopted, and among those reasons, the most important one is immature of the Power Take-off (PTO) technology. In this dissertation, a novel two body wave energy converter with a PTO using the unique mechanism of Mechanical Motion Rectifier (MMR) is investigated through design, analysis, and testing. To improve the energy harvesting efficiency and the reliability of the PTO, the dissertation induced a mechanical PTO that uses MMR mechanism which can transfer the reciprocated bi-directional movement of the ocean wave into unidirectional rotation of the generator. This mechanism brings in a unique phenomenon of engagement and disengagement and a piecewise nonlinear dynamic property into the PTO. Through a comprehensive study, the MMR PTO is further characterized and a refined dynamic model that can accurately predict the dynamic response of the PTO is established. The major factors that can influence the performance of the MMR PTO are explored and discussed both analytically and experimentally. Moreover, as it has been theoretically hypothesis that using a two-body structure for designing the point absorbers can help it to achieve a frequency tuning effect for it to better match with the excitation frequency of the ocean wave, it lacks experimental verification. In this dissertation, a scaled two-body point absorber prototype is developed and put into a wave tank to compare with the single body structure. The test results show that through the use of two-body structure and by designing the mass ratio between the two bodies properly, the point absorber can successfully match the excitation frequency of the wave. The highest power capture width ratio (CWR) achieved during the test is 58.7%, which exceeds the results of similar prototypes, proving the advantage of the proposed design.

Natamycin is an antimycotic with very low water solubility and extremely high photosensitivity, which is used to extend the shelf life of shredded cheese products. The objectives of this research are: (a) to find a new delivery system for natamycin, which increases its aqueous solubility and (b) to increase the chemical stability of natamycin so that it has a prolonged antifungal effect on the surface of the shredded cheese. Molecular inclusion complexes of natamycin were formed with β-, hydroxypropyl β-, and γ- cyclodextrins (CDs) which allowed large increases in aqueous solubility without the use of organic co-solvents or surfactants. The water solubility of natamycin was increased 16-fold, 73- fold, and 152-fold with β-CD, γ-CD, and hydroxypropyl β-CD, respectively. The natamycin:CD inclusion complexes resulted in nearly equivalent in vitro antifungal activity as natamycin in its free state. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was utilized to prove the formation of true inclusion complexes. 1H NMR shift titrations of N-(3 -N-dimethylaminosuccimido) natamycin with β- and γ-CDs enabled determination of the stoichiometry of both complexes as 1:1. Aqueous solutions of natamycin (20 mg/L) were found by quantitative HPLC to be completely degraded after 24 hours of exposure to 1000 lux fluorescent lighting at 4 °C. After 14 days of storage in darkness at 4 °C, 92.2% of natamycin remained in active form. Aqueous solutions of natamycin:β-CD complex and natamycin:γ-CD complex were significantly more stable (p < 0.05) than natamycin in its free state when stored in darkness at 4 °C. Clear poly(ethylene terephthalate) packaging with an ultraviolet light absorber allowed 85.0% natamycin to remain after 14 days of storage under 1000 lux fluorescent lighting at 4 °C. Such dramatic increases in water solubility and light stability will enable natamycin to function as a more effective antimycotic in the food industry. / Master of Science

With the advancement in knowledge of inelastic response of structures, the design and construction practices of reinforced concrete buildings have been changing worldwide. Most of the codes are incorporating the near-fault factors and performance based designs in the seismic codes. However, further investigation is needed to identify the physical behaviour of multi-storey buildings to near-fault ground motions. At present, quantitative evaluation of response and its mitigation to near field ground motions is a popular topic in earthquake engineering field. The present study discusses the inelastic response of symmetric and asymmetric multi-storey buildings to near-fault ground motions. The possibility of design approach is based on ‘expendable top storey’ for the multi-storey RC- buildings to near field records. If such behaviour is feasible one can conceive of a structure whose top storey is permitted and designed to undergo large inelastic deformations while reducing damage in the lower storey. The concept was first proposed in an earlier research (RaghuPrasad, 1977). Such a concept juxtaposes the often-mentioned ‘soft first storey’ concept. Further in this report, the performance evaluation of multi-storey buildings near Chiplun fault in Mumbai, India is also discussed. The thesis is organized in the following chapters: Introduction in Chapter-1 contains detailed literature review on inelastic response of symmetric and asymmetric buildings, response of buildings to near-fault records, elastic and inelastic vibration absorber concepts and performance based designs. The literature reveals that considerable amount of research has been carried out on the elastic, inelastic response of structures and vibration absorber concepts to ordinary ground motions. Recently, the effect of near field ground motions on the response of multi-storey buildings is gaining much importance. Most of the research publications are available on response of symmetric buildings subjected to near field ground motions. But many problems are yet to be investigated. They are, identification of important ground motion parameters in near fault records, vibration absorber concepts and torsional response of structures subjected to pulse type ground motions. These problems are clearly mentioned in the recently published state-of-the-art review by Shuang and Li-Li (2007). In this report an attempt has been made to solve these problems. Effect of near-fault ground motions on symmetric multi-storey buildings in Chapter-2, describes simplified non-dimensionalized equations of motion to study the response behaviour of multi-storey buildings to near fault records. The non-dimensionalized equations of motion are expressed in terms of near fault ground motion parameters. The objective is to find a relation between ductility demand and near field ground motion parameters through neural network approach. For this a neural network modeling was done to predict the ductility demand in terms of peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, epicentral distance and pulse period of the near field ground motion. A thorough sensitive analysis is carried out, to ascertain which parameters are having maximum influence on ductility demand. In this chapter further, a comparative study is made on the inelastic seismic response of multi-storey buildings to pulse type and non pulse type ground motions. The study shows that, it is necessary to consider the effect of near fault ground motions separately and make provisions for the design in the codes of practice accordingly. Vibration absorber effect in multi-storey buildings in chapter-3, discusses the behaviour of top storey as a vibration absorber during near field ground motions. For this purpose, a five storey symmetric building model is considered as an example problem to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed concept. Response of the structure is obtained for the various combinations of absorber storey parameters such as mass ratio, frequency ratio and yield displacement ratio. Here mass ratio means mass of the absorber storey to that of the bottom storey and similarly for the frequency and yield displacement ratios. Observing the storey-wise variation of these responses, we can say that for a range of mass ratios, frequency ratios and yield displacement ratios, the inelastic response of top storey is large compared to the lower storeys. This range is termed as ‘effective range’. Further, in this range the top storey absorbs the vibration energy of the structure by keeping the lower storeys in elastic state i.e. acts as a vibration absorber. The top storey can also be termed as ‘expendable top storey’. Effect of near-fault ground motions on asymmetric multi-storey buildings in Chapter-4, discusses the inelastic response of asymmetric buildings to single horizontal component and two horizontal components of near fault ground motions viz., fault normal and fault parallel components. For numerical investigations eight building models are considered. Eccentricity has been created by keeping the stiffness and mass centre separately. The building models are subjected to strong motion records of Imperial Valley Array-5 (1979) and Northridge-Sylmar (1994). A detailed study on the effect of base shear strength, eccentricity and pulse period of near fault ground motions on the response is investigated. Performance of multi-Storey buildings in Chapter-5, reported a detailed procedure for the performance evaluation of structures. The procedure is applied to find the performance evaluation of multi-storeyed buildings located in near fault region. Chiplun fault in Mumbai, India has been chosen for the study because several features of that fault are clearly published (RaghuKanth and Iyengar, 2006). Results of performance evaluation of five and ten storeyed symmetric buildings with and without infill panels are studied. Ground motion records consistent with the hazard spectrum for the design are considered. The performance of the building near the Chiplun fault in Mumbai, India shows operational under UHS-500 (uniform hazard spectrum) event and it collapses when the building is exposed to UHS-2500 record. The thesis is concluded in Chapter-6 with an overall summary of the report and suggestions for further scope of the work.

Dans le contexte énergétique qui se profile, la production d’électricité par voie solaire thermodynamique s’avère une solution prometteuse, que ce soit pour des considérations économiques, d’échelle de production ou environnementales. Une voie d’amélioration du rendement des centrales solaires à tour consiste à utiliser des cycles thermodynamiques à haut rendement type cycles combinés. Cela nécessite de pouvoir fournir un fluide de travail pressurisé à très haute température (10bar et 1000°C minimum). Ce manuscrit présente les travaux menés afin de développer et de viabiliser un concept d’absorbeur solaire surfacique modulaire en céramique (carbure de silicium) capable de répondre à ces exigences. Le choix du carbure de silicium s’est imposé pour sa résistance aux hautes températures et aux problèmes d’oxydation. Cependant, l’utilisation d’une céramique comme matériau implique un risque de casse des modules. Les céramiques sont en effet fragiles lorsqu’elles sont soumises à des contraintes de traction. C’est la connaissance et la maitrise de ce risque qui fait l’objet de cette étude. L’approche adoptée combine le développement d’outils numériques et d’études expérimentales réalisées sur le site de la centrale solaire Thémis (Targassonne, 66, France). La méthodologie desimulation développée permet de prédire le comportement thermique et le comportement mécanique de l’absorbeur. Ceci permet de réduire les risques encourus par l’absorbeur et d’en connaitre les performances. Cette méthodologie a été éprouvée à l’aide des résultats expérimentaux. / For the future, using thermodynamical solar power plant seems to be a good solution to ensure electrical production. Solar tower plants are able to produce electricity in significant amount, are environmentally friendly and economically competitive. One way to increase the yield of these plants is using high efficiency thermodynamical cycles, like combined cycle. That requires to providing a working fluid at high temperature and high pressure (10bar and 1000°C at least). This PHD thesis presents the works performed to develop and enhance a concept of modular plate solar ceramic absorber that can ensure the required air production. We chose the silicon carbide as material due to its resistance to high temperatures and oxidation problems. The drawback is ceramic modules are weak to traction stresses. The study focuses on the knowledge and the control of this phenomenon. This work combines the developments of numerical tools and experimental studies performed at Thémis power plant (Targassonne, 66, FRANCE). The numerical method permits simulations to predict the thermal behavior and the mechanical behavior of a solar module absorber. It allows the reduction of the mechanical stresses undergone by solar receiver and the prediction of its performances. This methodology was tested using experimental results.

Wave energy converters of point absorber type have been developed and constructed. Full scale experiments have been carried out at sea and electricity has been successfully delivered. Linear permanent magnet generators together with a subsea substation and buoys of various geometric shapes have been investigated theoretically and experimentally. The design has in large extent an electronic approach, keeping the mechanical part of it as simple as possible, due to the long life span and reliability of electric components. Because of the nature of a linear generator, the internal translator with permanent magnets has a limited stroke length which will be reached when the buoy is exposed to large wave heights. Internal springs at the top and bottom of the generator prevent the translator from hitting the generator hull. Inertial forces due to the mass and velocity of the translator and the buoy and its heave added mass compresses the spring. The added mass is a rather large part of the total moving mass. Simulations of a converter with a vertical cylindrical buoy and with a toroidal buoy were conducted, as well as real sea experiments with converters with cylindrical buoys of two different sizes and a toroidal buoy. The overloads are likely to affect the design and service life of the generator, the buoy and the wire which interconnects them. Buoy shapes with as much excitation force as possible and as little heave added mass as possible were sought. A toroidal buoy caused less overloads on the generator at sea states with short wave periods and relatively large wave height, but for sea states with very long wave periods or extremely high waves, the magnitude of the overloads was mainly determined by the maximum displacement of the buoy. Snap loads on the interconnecting wire, as the slack wire tensed up after a very deep wave trough, were found to be greater but of the same order of magnitude as forces during the rest of the wave cycle. During a 4 day period at various wave conditions, two converters with cylindrical buoys proved efficiency between 11.1 % and 24.4 %. The larger buoy had 78 % larger water plane area than the other buoy which resulted in 11 % more power production. Short wave period was beneficial for the power production. Infinite frequency heave added mass was measured for a cylindrical buoy at real sea and found to be greater than the linearly calculated theoretical added mass.

Cette thèse vise à étudier la valorisation des rejets thermiques de basse température (inférieure à 100 °C) par les machines à absorption, dont principalement les transformateurs de chaleur à absorption (AHT) pour générer de la chaleur à une température plus élevée, et les cycles de réfrigération par absorption (ARC) pour la production de frigories. Les performances des machines à absorption sont exprimées suivant les températures et les COP qu’elles peuvent atteindre. Ces deux paramètres dépendent de l’architecture de la machine, des composants utilisés et de la paire de fluides réfrigérant-absorbant circulant dans la machine. L’objectif principal de ce travail est une nouvelle génération d’AHT qui puisse rendre utile la chaleur avec une différence de température par rapport à la source de chaleur disponible (rejet thermique) d’au moins 50°C. Pour l‘ARC, on cible une nouvelle génération de cycles capables de produire des frigories à une température inférieure à -20°C.Les résultats obtenus représentent une avancée majeure dans le domaine des cycles à absorption. En effet, les objectifs fixés de valorisation de chaleur basse température, jusqu’à 45°C, en rendant disponible de la chaleur haute température (supérieure à 120°C) et basse température (inférieure à -20°C) ont été atteints. Ceci représente une différence de température entre le rejet thermique et la chaleur utile de 75°C minimum. L’utilisation d’éjecteurs avec certains fluides de travail a permis le développement d'une nouvelle génération de cycles à absorption. / This thesis aims at studying the low temperature waste heat recovery (less than 100°C) by the use of absorption machines, mainly absorption heat transformers (AHT) to generate heat at a higher temperature, and absorption refrigeration cycles (ARC) to generate chilling power. The performances of absorption machines are expressed according to the temperatures and the COPs which they can reach. These two parameters depend on the cycle configuration, the components used and the refrigerant-absorbent pair of fluids circulating in the machine. The main objective of this work is a new generation of AHT which can produce heat with a difference in temperature compared to the available heat source (heat rejection) of at least 50°C. For the ARC, a new generation of cycles capable of producing chilling power at temperatures lower than -20°C is aimed.The results obtained represent a major progress in the absorption cycles field. The objectives set for this work of low temperature heat recovery, up to 45°C, by making available high temperature heat (above 120°C) and low temperature (below -20°C) have been achieved. This represents a minimal temperature difference between the waste heat and the useful heat of 75°C. The use of ejectors with specific working fluids allowed the development of a new generation of absorption cycles.

En raison de leurs grandes longueurs d'onde, les vibrations mécaniques en basses fréquences ne peuvent être facilement réduites dans les structures par l'utilisation de matériaux dissipatifs. Malgré ces difficultés, l'atténuation des vibrations en basses fréquences reste un enjeu important. Pour résoudre ce problème, différents axes de recherche ont été étudiés et ont été mis en application pour stocker et dissiper l'énergie vibratoire comme l'utilisation d'oscillateurs linéaires, composés d'une masse, d'un ressort et d'un amortisseur. Leur fréquence de résonance doit coïncider avec la fréquence de résonance de la structure que l'on veut atténuer. L'utilisation d'absorbeurs se comportant comme des oscillateurs ayant un comportement non linéaire est une alternative intéressante. En effet, grâce à un étalement fréquentiel de la réponse de l'oscillateur, celui-ci permet d'atténuer les vibrations de la structure sur une plus large bande de fréquence que ceux ayant un comportement linéaire, sans avoir de dédoublement de la résonance de la réponse en deux pics. Les travaux présentés ici se placent dans le cadre de la réduction vibratoire, à l'échelle macroscopique, en basses fréquences, pour lesquelles les premiers modes structuraux sont excités. Un absorbeur non linéaire a été conçu, réalisé et analysé expérimentalement, modélisé et identifié expérimentalement pour mettre en évidence le phénomène d'élargissement de la bande de fréquence de la réponse. Les effets de cet absorbeur sur le comportement dynamique d'une poutre console ont ensuite été numériquement étudiés, à partir d'un modèle de poutre couplée à des absorbeurs non linéaires. Un modèle réduit et son solveur stochastique ont été développés dans ce cadre. Les résultats ont exposé le fait que l'absorbeur non linéaire permet une atténuation de la réponse de la poutre, sans le dédoublement de la résonance / Due to their long wavelengths, mechanical vibrations at low frequencies cannot easily be reduced in structures by using dissipative materials. Despite these difficulties, the attenuation of vibration at low frequencies remains an important concern. To solve this problem, several ways of research have been explored and have been applied to vibration energy pumping such as linear oscillators, composed of a mass, a spring, and a damper. Their resonance frequency must coincide with the resonant frequency of the structure that has to be attenuated. The absorbers that are oscillators with a nonlinear behavior constitute an interesting alternative. The response of the nonlinear oscillator allows for obtaining an attenuation of vibration over a broader frequency band than the response of linear oscillator, without splitting the resonance that has to be attenuated into two resonances. The work presented here is in the frame of the vibratory reduction, on a macro-scale, at low frequencies, for which the first structural modes are excited. A nonlinear absorber has been designed, experimentally realized and analyzed, modeled and experimentally identified to highlight the phenomenon of broadening the frequency band of the response. The effects of this absorber on the dynamic behavior of a cantilever beam have been numerically studied, using a model of the beam coupled to nonlinear absorbers. A reduced-model and its stochastic solver have also been developed. The results obtained show that the nonlinear absorber allows for obtaining an attenuation on the beam response, without splitting of the resonance that has to be attenuated

Les vibrations qui sont en général source de dérangement, d’usure et même destruction des machines et structures mécaniques doivent être contrôlées ou éliminées. Pour cette raison, la lutte contre les vibrations est devenue depuis des années un enjeu majeur pour les chercheurs de laboratoire et de développement dans l’industrie afin de développer des solutions efficaces contre ces problèmes. De nombreuses technologies ont donc été développées. Parmi ces technologies, les absorbeurs de vibration non linéaires présentent des performances importantes dans l’atténuation de vibration sur une large bande de fréquences. C’est dans ce contexte que cette thèse se focalise sur l’analyse et l’optimisation des absorbeurs de vibration non linéaires. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’analyser le comportement dynamique non linéaire des systèmes présentant des absorbeurs de vibration non linéaires. Pour cela, un modèle dynamique d’un système à deux degrés de liberté est développé mettant en équations le comportement non linéaire. La résolution des équations de mouvement est faite par la Méthode Asymptotique Numérique (MAN). La performance de cette méthode est montrée via une comparaison avec la méthode de Newton-Raphson. L’analyse des modes non linéaires du système ayant une non-linéarité cubique est faite par une formulation explicite des Fonctions de Réponse en Fréquence non linéaires (FRFs) et les Modes Normaux Non linéaires (MNNs). Un démonstrateur sur la base d’un système simple à deux degré de liberté est mis en place afin de recaler les modèles envisagés sur la base des résultats expérimentaux trouvés. / Vibrations are usually undesired phenomena as they may cause discomfort, disturbance, damage, and sometimes destruction of machines and structures. It must be reduced or controlled or eliminated. For this reason, the vibrations attenuation became a major issue for scientists and researchers in order to develop effective solutions for these problems. Many technologies have been developed. Among these technologies, the nonlinear vibration absorbers have significant performance in the vibration attenuation over a wide frequency band. In this context, this thesis focuses on the analysis and optimization of nonlinear vibration absorbers. The objective of the thesis is to analyze the nonlinear dynamic behavior of systems with nonlinear vibration absorbers. For this, a dynamic model of a two degrees of freedom system is developed. The Asymptotic Numerical Method (ANM) is used to solve the nonlinear equations of motion. The performance of this method is shown via a comparison with the Newton-Raphson method. The nonlinear modal analysis system with cubic nonlinearity is made by an explicit formulation of the nonlinear Frequency Response Functions (FRFs) and Nonlinear Normal Modes (MNNs). An experimental study is performed to validate the numerical results.