Design and Development of a Torsional Vibration Rubber Damper

In a multi-cylinder engine, the harmonics of pressures in different cylinders add to excite the crankshaft and other mass-elastic system in its line. The predominant component builds up the shear stress at resonances of the system, if the natural frequencies lie in the operating range. Addition of a tuning disc in the form of a rubber damper increases the order of the system by one. The nuisance frequency is substituted by two new damped frequencies. The design of rubber for operating at high temperatures and for withstanding high shear is important. The known procedure of calculations is systematically reviewed in this paper. The importance of properties of rubber is given in detail. A successful study of damping a large 8.8 litre turbocharged and aftercooled engine rated at 2200 rpm is used to demonstrate the procedure to design a rubber damper.