ContiTech develops active engine mounts

ERJ staff report (DS)

Hanover, Germany - ContiTech has published an on-line article on its engine mount business. In the piece, Hans-Jürgen Karkosch, head of advanced engineering for vehicle concepts at ContiTech Vibration Control discusses developments by Conti to deal with smaller lighter engines used in more fuel-efficient cars.

The key development is a modular design, in which the specific mount is assembled from a range of modular components to tune the mount to the specific engine characteristics. The modular system is based on a classic hydromount, which uses liquids to dampen vibrations. Thanks to an additional electromechanical 'switching actuator', its characteristics can be adjusted to ensure optimum comfort when idling engines produce excessive vibrations.

ContiTech Vibration Control said it has developed a new generation of active mounting system as an additional component that generates counter-vibrations. Prototypes have already been tested successfully by a number of vehicle makers and in a wide range of vehicles. An active vibration control system consists of an actuator, which generates power, an electronic control unit, and sensors.

There are two active principles available: The active absorber system uses an electrical charge to generate vibrations in the actuator which are then channeled to the relevant parts of the car body. There, acting as counter-vibrations, they can almost fully cancel out the vibrations coming from the engine.

The second system is the active hydromount. Here, the actuator is integrated directly into the mount, where it works as a fluid pump. “This allows us to compensate effectively for low-frequency vibrations of between 20 and 40 Hz,” said Karkosch.

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Press release from ContiTech