High-Frequency Vibration Test Rigs

Engine mounts are used in the automotive industry to ensure a high degree of ride comfort within the cabin. The mounts reduce vibration to the car body by absorbing the static and dynamic forces generated by the engine. The vibration transmission characteristics of the mounts, in particular the dynamic stiffness, are of key importance to noise and vibration engineers. There is an increasing demand, particularly in hybrid and electric vehicles, for higher test frequencies.

m+p international has developed several high-frequency test rigs to characterize elastomer mounts dynamically up to 3,000 Hz. They are equipped with either a piezoelectric actuator or an electrodynamic shaker.

One of our customers, the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF in Germany, used a VDA (German Automobile Industry) specimen mount to compare measurements using three different test rigs:

• its own high-frequency test rig from m+p international employing an 8 kN electrodynamic shaker,
• a rig from m+p international, which uses a piezoelectric actuator,
• a rig from a well-known manufacturer of passive and active bearings.