
Hence, the absorber stiffness is
(d)
and the absorber damping coefficient is
(e)
8.6.2 Centrifugal Pendulum Vibration Absorber
26
Centrifugal pendulum absorbers, which are also known as rotating pendulum
vibration absorbers, are widely used in many rotary applications. For exam-
ple, in rotating shafts, the centrifugal pendulum absorber is often employed
to reduce undesirable vibrations at frequencies that are proportional to the
rotational speed of the shaft. Since the rotational speed can vary over a wide
range, in order to have an effective absorber, the natural frequency of the ab-
sorber should be proportional to the rotational speed. This can be realized by
using the centrifugal pendulum vibration absorber.
A conceptual representation of rotary system with this absorber is illus-
trated in Figure 8.25, where the pendulum absorber moves in the plane con-
taining the unit vectors e
1
and e
2
. These unit vectors are fixed to the pendu-
lum, which has a mass m and length r. The unit vectors and are fixed to
the rotary system. For this two degree-of-freedom system, we will derive the
governing nonlinear equations of the system by using the generalized coordi-
nates u and w, linearize these equations, and use these equations to show how
this absorber can be designed. In Figure 8.25, the angle w is measured relative
to the rotating system, which has a rotary inertia J
O
about the point O, which
is fixed for all time. An external moment M
T
(t) acts on this system.
Equations of Motion
The Lagrange equations given by Eqs. (7.7) are used to get the governing
equations of motion. From Figure 8.25 and Example 1.4, we see that the ve-
locity of the pendulum with respect to the point O is given by
(8.123)V
m
Ru
#
e¿
1
r1w
#
u
#
2e
2
1Ru
#
sin w 2e
1
1Ru
#
cos w r1w
#
u
#
22e
2
e¿
2
e¿
1
794.10 N/1m/s 2
2 0.168 120 kg 2 1118.17 rad/s2
c
2
2z
2
m
2
v
n2
120 kg2 1118.17 rad/s2
2
279.28 10
3
N/m
k
2
m
2
v
2
n2
8.6 Vibration Absorbers 507
26
See, for example: R. G. Mitchiner and R. G. Leonard, “Centrifugal Pendulum Vibration Ab-
sorbers—Theory and Practice,” J. Vibration Acoustics, Vol. 113, pp. 503–507 (1991); M. Sharif-
Bakhtiar and S. W. Shaw, “Effects of Nonlinearities and Damping on the Dynamic Response of
a Centrifugal Pendulum Vibration Absorber,” J. Vibration Acoustics, Vol. 114, pp. 305–311
(1992); and M. Hosek, H. Elmali, and N. Olgac, “A tunable vibration absorber: the centrifugal
delayed resonator,” J. Sound Vibration, Vol. 205, No. (2), pp. 151–165 (1997).
e
2
e
1
e
2
'
e
1
'
r( + )
R
.
.
.
.
.
R cos
R sin
O'
O
R
r
J
o
M
T
(t)
Pivot
m
FIGURE 8.25
Centrifugal pendulum absorber.