In a message dated 10/3/02 7:42:46 PM, lalofs@ENTERACT.COM writes:

<< So, Frank, would you like to explain the difference between positive and
negative dampening.  I guess  physics majors like me need more practical
ME training. >>

Well, as a chemist myself, I look at the dampening coefficients and if they
are positive then the action is energy dissipation and a reduction in the
peak amplitude of the wave. If some of the coefficients are negative, I have
understood that case as resonance and amplification of those frequencies. Of
course the a full negative solution in which the total energy is increased or
amplified is unreasonable, but partition with amplitude enhancement at lower
frequencies is plausible. So, to zeroth order, positive dampening is
isolation, negative dampening is amplified resonance.

All part of a carefully constructed pablumesque world view designed to shield
me from the world of partial differential equations!

Frank Grunthaner