Engine Mount System Focusing to Reduce Vehicle Shake

Many design philosophies have been used to design engine mount systems. One is to place the stiffness roll axis coincidental to the torque axis (crankshaft), to produce pure roll under static torque. Another is to focus the mount system to align with the inertial roll axis and uncouple dynamic roll. Recent trends have been to abandon mount system focusing as a criterion, in favor of controlling the six natural frequencies of the powertrain on the mount system.

This paper discusses a technique to focus the mounts to uncouple the dynamic matrix, as much as possible within design constraints, while also maintaining control of the powertrain rigid body natural frequencies. Using engine mount system focusing to uncouple the dynamic matrix reduced lateral shake in an experimental vehicle. This reduction in vehicle shake was substantiated by total vehicle system models, experimental measurement, and subjective evaluation.

This technique was implemented through simple matrix calculations using a spreadsheet program with optimization capabilities.