Abstract
The effects of damping on the rotational vibratory solution of a multiple pulley-flat elastomeric belt system with rotary tensioner is developed. Visco-elastic belt and coulomb tensioner arm damping are included. Belt span tension amplitude can also be determined. A complex modal procedure is developed to provide a straight forward way to solve for both the under-damped and over-damped cases. This complex modal procedure for the high-order non-symmetrical dynamic system solution was used to allow future extension to the non-symmetric rotational model of pulley wobble and transverse belt vibration coupling. The modal solution provides the rapid analysis over a spectrum of frequencies and saves significant time when compared to numerical integration techniques. Experimental results from the literature for a seven pulley test rig supports the complex modal solution in this paper. Analyses predict significant effect of belt damping on vibration amplitudes but minor effect from tensioner spring rate and coulomb damping.
