A viscous damper is a fundamental component to create durability and efficiency in a powertrain system by reducing torsional vibration.
Houdaille (later renamed to Vibratech TVD) invented the technology in 1946 (view company history) to reduce the risk of crankshaft failure being experienced in diesel powered off-highway equipment. While other torsional damping devices existed at the time, soon the reliability of a viscous damper made it the preferred choice of design engineers and purchasers. They can be found today protecting business critical equipment in the off-highway, rail, oil and gas, power generation, marine, military and over-the-road trucking domains. In addition, they are commonly used at the automotive OEM level in exotic sports cars and light-duty diesel trucks, plus grassroots to professional racing applications.
Today design engineers at engine, vehicle and equipment manufacturers are challenged even harder to deliver emissions-compliant, quieter and more fuel-efficient powertrains without sacrificing performance and reliability. The use of sophisticated turbochargers, high-pressure fuel injection and elevated mean effective pressures put an even greater and destructive torsional vibration force into the system.
Read 'Viscous Dampers: Evolving To Meet New Needs & Applications' and you'll gain broad insight on how viscous dampers have progressed to meet today's challenges.
Vibratech TVD continues to be a specialized leading provider of torsional vibration analysis, viscous damper development (crankshafts, drivelines, hybrid drives) and low-to-high volume manufacturing to global OEM powertrain division. The ISO 9001:2008 certified company is headquartered in Springville, New York USA.