Dilatant-Fluid Torsional Vibration Damper for a Four-Stroke Diesel Engine Crankshaft

This paper presents a study of a viscous torsional vibration damper for a crankshaft of a four-stroke diesel engine. The reliable operation of a widely used silicone-type viscous damper depends on the ability of the silicone oil to absorb the energy of torsional vibrations. The non-Newtonian shear flow of the silicone oil interlayer, characterised by a reduction in the shear-rate-dependent viscosity and a moment of the drag forces, negatively affects damping characteristics. A torsional vibration damper, filled with a shear-thickening fluid, was considered and a rheological approach, based on viscosity growth with the shear rate increase, was applied. For such a damper, larger velocity gradients correspond to the higher values of a viscous force, which decreases torsional vibration. The parameter of damper effectiveness (defined by the fluid flow index, values of the damper gaps, torsional vibration amplitude and frequency) was implemented. It has been established that the efficiency of the torsional vibration damper filled with a dilatant fluid does not depend on the damper dimensions and gaps and significantly increases when a shear-thickening fluid is used instead of silicone oil or a Newtonian fluid. At higher values of the flow index, when the non-Newtonian flow becomes distinct, torsional vibrations are damped more effectively. Critical vibration amplitudes at high-velocity gradients, in turn, increase the damping effect as the moment of the drag forces and flow index are power-law related.