Experimental Study of Unbalanced Multiple Propeller Shaft

The imbalance of propeller shaft is an excitation to the vehicle structure and causes noise and vibration. This paper presents an experimental study of effects of propeller shaft imbalance on vehicle vibration characteristics. A two-piece propeller shaft with unbalance is used in real vehicle test. The vehicle vibration is characterized by accelerations of the cabin floor and of the bearing which supports the propeller shaft. Through the experiment, some interesting phenomena are observed.