Modeling of nonlinear torsional vibration of the automotive powertrain

A vibration model of the powertrain can be used to predict its dynamic behavior when excited by fluctuations in the engine torque and speed. The torsional vibration resulting from torque and speed fluctuations increases the rattle noise in the gearbox and it should be controlled or minimized in order to gain acceptance by clients and manufactures. The fact that the proprieties of the torsional damper integrated into the clutch disc alter the dynamic characteristic of the system is important in the automotive industry for design purposes. In this study, bench test results for the characteristics of a torsional damper for a clutch system (torsional stiffness and friction moment) and powertrain torsional vibration measurements taken in a passenger car were used to verify and calibrate the model. The adjusted model estimates the driveline natural frequency and the time response vibration. The analysis uses order tracking signal processing to isolate the response from the engine excitation (second-order). It is shown that a decrease in the stiffness of the clutch disc torsional damper lowers the natural frequency and an increase in the friction moment reduces the peak amplitude of the gearbox torsional vibration. The formulation and model adjustment showed that a nonlinear model with three degrees of freedom can represent satisfactorily the powertrain dynamics of a front-wheel drive passenger car.