Past and Future Practical Solutions for Torsional Vibration Damping in Vehicle Industry

Abstract

In addition to material and production costs, consumption and emission limits, the requirements for performance, efficiency and space utilization must be met when it comes to the design of today's internal combustion engines for the automotive industry. As a result, three new design trends have been emerged (based on J. Pfleghaar and B. Lohmann's paper in 2013): 1. downsizing: reduction of engine size (number of pistons and stroke) for fuel and space-saving and CO₂ emission reduction purposes, 2. downspeeding: reduction of engine speed to save fuel, which necessarily entails significantly higher torques being generated and transmitted in the engine, 3. turbo supercharging: increasing the pressure and compression ratio in the engine piston cylinder to cover the increased torque demand, which is accompanied by NO_x gas emissions. Due to these new design trends, significant transverse, axial, and torsional oscillations can occur on the engine's crankshaft. To avoid power loss and fatigue due to the torsional oscillations, a torsional vibration damper is advised to be installed on the free end of the crankshaft or integrated into the flywheel. This review paper focuses on the possible reasons for torsional vibrations, the applied methods used to dampen them, and expected future trends.