NONLINEAR-ANALYSIS OF AUTOMOTIVE HYDRAULIC ENGINE MOUNT

Nonlinear properties of a generic hydraulic mount with an inertia track are identified and characterized by using experimental and analytical approaches. A low-frequency lumped-parameter mathematical model of the hydraulic mount is developed over 1 to 50 Hz, based on the measured nonlinear system parameters such as the steady-state inertia track fluid resistances and fluid chamber compliances. New experiments specifically designed for this study are also described. The effect of temperature on the mount dynamic properties is discussed briefly. When compared with measured signals under sinusoidal testing conditions, our model predicts time and frequency domain responses reasonably well. One of the reasons for some discrepancies between theory and experiment is attributed to the need for an accurate model describing the gas-liquid phase transformation and cavitation phenomenon.