FLIGHT,

January

8th, 1942.

. . and the same dismantled to show

its few and simple parts.

of this method of suspending the

absorber mass, which is based on
Salomon's "Duplex Suspension"
patents, is that the motion of the
absorber mass, under the action of
vibratory torques transmitted from
the crankshaft, is the same as the
motion of a simple pendulum.
The absorber rings are retained in
place by flanges on the pin and locking bolt, the latter being secured by
riveting over the end of the bolt after
it has been screwed into position.
The tuning characteristics of the
oscillating system were determined
in accordance with the method described in the paper previously mentioned,* aj/d the
theoretical predictions were fully confirmed by subsequent tests. The illustration shows a series of records
obtained from this engine by means of the R.A.E. re* See also W. Ker Wilson, " Practical Solution of Torsional Vibration Problems."
Chapman and Hall, London.) Vol. 2, Second Edition, 19+1.

WITHOUT
ABSORBERS

WITH
ABSORBERS

ENGINE
R.P.M.

2700

3 R a ORDER

2,500
PART 3 R D
ORDER

2,000
PART 3 R D
ORDER

1,750

5'/a ORDER

5</2ORDER

cording torsion meter. This instrument records the

amount of twist across a prescribed length of
shaft at the power end of the engine. In the case
of steady torques the record is a circle, of radius
proportional to the transmitted torque, but if the
shaft is being subjected to important torsional vibration stresses, the circular trace becomes distorted into
a pattern representing the combined effect of the mean
transmitted torque and the superimposed vibratory
torque. At speeds near a resonant zone of torsional
vibration, this distortion is very severe, and the circular
trace breaks down into a lobed pattern in which, generally speaking, the number of lobes represents the number
of vibratory impulses acting on the shaft during each
revolution. Since the torsional stress in a given length
of plain shaft is proportional to the twist over that length,
these records also represent shaft stresses to some scale
determined by the dimensions of the shaft and the calibration constant of the instrument. '
Interpreting the Records
The torsion meter record shows a large 3rd-ortfef
torque variation at 2,700 r.p.m. in the case of the engine
without the absorbers. Traces of this 3rd-order variation are still discernible at 2,000 r.p.m. With the
absorbers in action the 3rd-order disturbance is completely eliminated, although traces of the 2.5th and 3.5th
orders are discernible at 2,700 r.p.m. The presence of
these at 2,700 r.p.m. was predicted by the tuning calculations, and is, therefore, a useful confirmation of the
theoretical treatment employed. Additional confirmation
is afforded by the presence of the 5.5th and 6th orders at
1,750 and 1,600 r.p.m. respectively, both with and without the absorbers, since the tuning calculations indicated
that the influence of the absorbers on these two orders
would be negligible.
+ 26,000

1,600

Z+22X>00

tD 18,000

TH

- ORDER

'II

ui .
3 +14,000

6 ORDER

'
1

f- 10,000

*~\

zo

t - 6,000

<

'

8
p

1,050

# -*

v^/ v

r"'
* "

*"

III

/ \

> i 2.000
I600

ISOO

2,000
2.200
2.400
ENGINE SPEED R.PM.

2600

2800

The illustration on the left shows diagrams obtained on the R.A.E. torsiograph with and without the shock dampers. On
the right are curves showing typical variation of vibration torque with engine speed for a six-cyl., in-line engine. The
'
curves were based on the torsiograph records.