Development of a Virtual Multi-Axial Simulation Table to Enhance the Prognosis of Loads on Powertrain Mounting System During Durability Applications

Vibration Isolation is the key objective of engine mounting systems in the automotive industry. A well-designed, robust engine mount must be capable of isolating the engine assembly from road-based excitations. Owing to high vibration inputs, engine mounts are susceptible to wear and failure. Thus, the durability of engine mounts is a cause for concern. A design validation methodology has been developed at Jaguar Land Rover using Multibody Dynamics (MBD) to enhance the prognosis of engine mount loads during full - vehicle durability test events. This paper describes the development of a virtual multi-axial simulation table rig (MAST Rig) to test virtual engine mount designs. For the particular example considered in this paper, a simple sinusoidal input is applied to the MAST Rig. The development of the virtual MAST Rig has been described including details of the modelling methodology. In order to demonstrate the potential of the virtual test, correlation was carried out with tests conducted on a physical MAST Rig, and the achieved results have been presented. The approach described here can be applied to test the designs of engine mounts for durability applications at early stages of the development process. The results have shown great correlation at lower frequencies. At higher frequencies, though the engine resonance is shown by the virtual test, the phenomenon is not identical in the frequency domain. These results have identified areas of improvement in mount design, and have led to better prognosis of engine mount loads, owing to close collaboration with the design team.