Computational methods of nonlinear tensioner damping in belt drive systems

Abstract

The friction type tensioner is an energy absorbing component in belt drive system which has hysteretic torque and nonlinear damping. In this paper, a hysteretic model is used for describing the tensioner’s operating torque versus the imposed angle, and considered into the dynamic analysis of a belt drive system. The modeling process for calculating the vibration responses of a belt drive system is presented, and two iterative methods are proposed for estimating the tensioner’s nonlinear damping in a varying excitation frequency. One timing belt drive system is taken as a case study. The system’s vibration responses, such as the oscillation angle of tensioner arm, the transmission error between pulleys and the hub load on pulley are calculated and compared with the measured values, which validate the presented methods. The influence of iterative method on the computational efficiency and iterative accuracy are both discussed. At last a modified method is presented to improve iterative efficiency. The presented technique can improve the computational efficiency with a good computational accuracy.