The effect of rubber dampers on engine’s NVH and thermal performance

Fins as extended surfaces are attached to the internal combustion engine surfaces for enhancing the heat transfer. However, these fins vibrate at various frequencies, which produce undesirable radiated noise. To mitigate this effect, automobile industry inserts rubber dampers between these fins. These rubber dampers reduce the fins’ amplitude of vibration and thus reduce the radiated noise from the fin surfaces. Investigations on the effect of rubber dampers on the engine’s NVH (Noise–Vibration–Harshness) and thermal performance using numerical (FEM and CFD) and experimental measurement have been presented in this paper. Experiments were conducted in the semi-anechoic chamber on an engine with and without rubber dampers to measure the radiated noise from the fins. It was found that rubber dampers assist in reducing engine high frequency noise signals at higher engine speeds. Modal and harmonic response analysis was carried out on various designs for NVH characteristics improvement. Prototypes of the final design was made and tested for the NVH performance. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed on engine with and without rubber dampers to investigate the thermal performance. It was found that rubber dampers increase engine temperature by about 10%. Effect of rubbers dampers on the cost and environmental impact has also been discussed. This paper provides a systematic procedure to investigate the effect of rubber dampers and a method to eliminate these dampers from the engines with the same NVH and better thermal performances.