01.2010.

[ IN DETAIL MARINE ]

[ CONTROLLING VIBRATION ]

A MAJOR ADVANCE IN METHODS OF CONTROLLING VIBRATION

T E X T: R I C K M c A R T H U R | P H O T O S : W R T S I L

are typical features of machines and mechanical systems. Left uncontrolled, damage can occur through either excessive displacement or accelerated fatigue. On ships, comfort levels are also directly related to vibration and any associated noise. Wrtsils patented technology for controlling the vibrations associated with diesel engines can also be used as a retrot method to tame vibrations in other devices, including equipment manufactured by other companies.
VIBRATION AND RESONANCE
he entire universe actually consists of nothing but moving waves, so the only thing that really exists is vibration, says Heikki Mikonaho, Senior Structural Analyst at Wrtsil in Finland. But in locations familiar to humans - aircraft, trains, cars, ships, diesel engines, machinery, bridges and buildings, were aware of two types of vibration, free and forced. Free vibration occurs when a mechanical system is excited by an initial input and then allowed to vibrate freely. Plucking a tuning fork to make it ring is perhaps the simplest example, pulling a child sitting on a swing backwards and then letting them go is another. Both are

mechanical systems that will vibrate at one or more of their natural frequencies until the motion is damped by friction and decays to zero. Forced vibration is when a periodic force or motion is applied to a mechanical system, he says. Examples of this include washing machines which shake because the loads they are carrying are out of balance, vibrations in different modes of transportation caused by the engine or irregularities in the road or tracks, and the vibration of a building during an earthquake. In forced vibration, the frequency of the vibration is the frequency of the force or motion being applied, and its order of magnitude is

dependent on the structure of the mechanical system. If forced vibration occurs at or close to one or more of the structures natural frequencies - the ones at which it resonates - vibration levels can be high. Their extent will depend on the excitation forces and the level of damping. Potential costs can be high In vessels, even though sources such as air conditioning equipment, propeller shafts, cargo handling and control equipment and mooring machinery can make a significant contribution, the main sources of mechanically-produced vibration and noise are a ships engines. In general terms, every engine maker has to be able to deliver engines whose vibration levels are below maximum permissible levels, says Mikonaho. Vibrations which are excessive cause damage and wear on components of the vibrating system. This shortens service intervals and can result in high costs. And losses which result from a companys business being interrupted for example if a genset cannot produce electricity - can be a major part of those resulting costs. Measures that reduce vibration levels are always worth considering.

The main source of vibration and noise on a ship is its engines. 1.10 Twentyfour7. 67

[ IN DETAIL MARINE ]

Twentyfour7.

[ CONTROLLING VIBRATION ]

In passenger vessels, comfort is key mode away, or to add damping that targets a Careful technical design is required if diesel resonance which is difficult or too expensive engines are to achieve their required lifetime. to damp in a direct manner. Our technology is On cruisers and ferries, both structural and based on a hydromechanical device that changes airborne noise generated by the engines also the vibration system. It also converts mechanical has to be properly isolated from the hull. kinetic energy into heat, something like a vehicle Passengers dont feel comfortable when their shock absorber but on a much larger and more surroundings are noisy and vibrating, says sophisticated scale. Mikonaho. Vibration-related issues can be of major financial significance to shipowners. As original equipment and retrot Decisions made by ship designers about a Wrtsils patented tuned mass damper is an ships structure and geometry, its engines and auxiliary device that lowers vibration levels propulsion system and the materials used to in diesel engines efficiently without requiring reduce noise and vibration throughout the either expensive design modifications or vessel are of fundamental additional expensive importance. Advanced auxiliary systems. It can WRTSILS TUNED computer software is also be utilized as a retrofit used to simulate these method to lower vibration MASS DAMPER vibrations under different levels in engines or other CAN CUT VIBRATION conditions and identify mechanical devices that possible problems. The are already in service. BY 30-50% vibrations being generated The Wrtsil solution by onboard equipment can be utilized when are also compared with the natural frequencies traditional methods have already been tried of each ship section and the structure is then and other methods are either too expensive or adapted if necessary. technically impossible to execute, says Mikonaho. Vibration levels in engine/turbocharger systems Countermeasures may be required can typically be reduced by 3050%. We now More often than not, restrictions on the have installations on about 20 large diesel engines available space, modular design requirements, and a total of some 200,000 running hours manufacturing imperatives and general cost levels without any service or maintenance work on the mean that compromises have to be made. As dampers being required. The level of technical a systems vibration characteristics can have a reliability is very high. major influence on the lifetime of the product Next time you take a ferry trip or go on a in which it is installed, specific countermeasures cruise, the absence of noise in your surroundings are sometimes needed, says Mikonaho. could well be the result of unseen and unsung In such a situation, active or passive vibration Wrtsil technology, hard at work damping out control devices can be used to lower vibration sources of unwanted vibration in the engine room levels. Using a comparatively lightweight and possibly elsewhere, extending equipment component, the system is either tuned to shift lifetimes and reducing service and maintenance the problem frequency of the main vibration costs.

Vibration challenges in diesel engines

Large diesel engines are very complicated devices with a design lifetime of 30 years or more. Each engine family includes many different versions typically with 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16 or 20 cylinders. To keep costs down, the main components use modular design principles and this can result in vibration becoming a signicant design challenge with some cylinder congurations. Wrtsils patented tuned mass damper is an excellent tool for handling such cases without expensive and difficult design modications, says Hannu Tienhaara, General Manager, Calculation and Simulation at Wrtsil in Finland.

Collapse of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge

Opened to traffic on 1 July 1940, the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State was the third-longest suspension bridge in the United States at that time. Just four months later, on 7 November, a relatively mild but steady wind excited the transverse vibration mode in the bridge and it collapsed. The dramatic, rhythmic twisting motion that resulted in the collapse is sometimes described in physics textbooks as a classic example of failure resulting from mechanical resonance. In fact, the catastrophic vibrations that destroyed the bridge were actually due to a more complicated phenomenon known as aeroelastic utter , oscillation caused by interactions between the bridge and the stream of air passing around its structure.

Figure 1
Vibrations of the engine are controlled in wide speed range in all directions. Measured transversal vibration levels on top point TCC 12 of the turbocharger are shown in graph as an example.

Figure 2

Vibrations of the engine are controlled in wide frequency range.

Measured vibration levels of the turbocherger are shown as an example in directions
T = transversal, V = vertical and L = longitudinal.

TCC12_T_d TCC12_V_d TCC12_L_d TCC12_L TCC12_T TCC12_V

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