Developments in the Design of Centrifugal Pendulum Vibration Absorbers

For over 60 years, the torsional vibration of reciprocating aircraft engines has been controlled by centrifugal pendulum vibration absorbers. Loose weights attached to an engine’s crankshaft act as tuned-mass absorbers by oscillating at a frequency in proportion to rotational speed. More recently, similar loose masses have been attached to the flywheels of automobile engines. The need to achieve increased power from fewer cylinders, while reducing weight and improving economy, has exacerbated torsional vibration of the drive train. The dynamics of a wheel carrying many centrifugal pendulums of bifilar design has been the subject of a growing literature, but much less has been written about roller-type pendulums and about overall system performance. This paper is a new analysis of bifilar and roller systems and their design requirements. The current state of knowledge about practical design limitations is explained and the need for further research discussed.