Design and comparison of centrifugal dampers modern architectures: the influence of roller kinematics on tuning conditions and absorbers nonlinear dynamics

The centrifugal pendulum dampers are widely used to isolate drivetrain torsional vibrations. The kinematic structure of these devices includes one or more rollers meshing with slots carved on the absorbers and on the rotor. Such a kinematic higher-pair has been termed caged-roller joint. This investigation focuses on the analysis of rollers dynamics influence on modern centrifugal dampers architectures. To specialize the caged-roller joint equations for each kind of pendulum, the absorber motion is described in terms of kinematic invariants. As a result, more refined linear tuning conditions and nonlinear design procedures are disclosed. Finally, numerical tests are carried out to assess the sensitivity of rollers design parameters on the system dynamics. These results show that the rollers inertia effect cannot be neglected in an accurate design, due to the introduction of an undesired detuning of the devices.