  Regarding lightweighting structures for aeronautics, automotive or
construction applications, the level of performance of solutions proposed in
terms of damping and isolation is fundamental. Hence multilayered plate appears
as an interesting answer if damping performances are properly optimized. In
this paper, a novel modal analysis method (Ege et al, JSV 325 (4-5), 2009) is
used to identify viscoelastic properties (loss factors, Young's modulus) of
"polyethylene thermoplastic / aluminum" bilayer plates. The thermoplastic is
chosen for its high loss factors and relative low mass. The experimental method
consists in a high-resolution technique (ESPRIT algorithm) which allows precise
estimations of the viscoelastic properties even in frequency domains with high
modal overlap (high damping or modal density). Experimental loss factors
estimated from impact hammer excitations on the free-free plates highly
corresponds with two theoretical estimations. In the first model (Guyader &
Lesueur, JSV 58(1), 1978) the calculation is based on multilayered plates
equations and use wave propagation analysis ; in the second one (Laulagnet &
Guyader, JASA 96(1), 1994) the thickness deformation solving Navier's equations
is allowed. Results on several plates with several thicknesses of
thermoplastics are given and compared with the models, demonstrating the
validity of the approach.
