Experimental Study on Modal Damping Ratios of a Ring Damped Wheel Mounted with Different Damper Types and Preloads

Ring damped wheels have been widely applied on metro vehicles. However, mechanisms by which vibration and sound radiation are reduced with the ring damper have not been fully understood. The optimization of damper is much concerned in academic and industrial fields. This study conducts a series of tests in lab to study the influence of preload and the damper types, on the effect of vibration reduction. The preload is changed by inserting plug-pages between the two ends of the ring, and the damper types include ring, ring attached with rubber layer, and ring attached with rubber layer and additional mass. Through analyzing the vibration characteristics, it is found that the damping ratios of the axial and radial wheel modes change to different degree, making some difference in the overall vibration level.