In a cooperative development with Stop-Choc part of the Hutchinson Group, MTU the diesel engine manufacturer is offering a range of active engine mounts for some of their engine series. In the MTU system each of the four engine mounts consist of a vibration absorbing mount fixed to a solid box containing three vibration sensors and three force actuators, one for each axis. The inputs are fed to a control unit and using special control algorithms are analyzed and an appropriate signal is generated and fed back to the mount actuators resulting in a net decrease in noise and vibration.
Noise and vibration limitation not only improves comfort levels but in military applications can make the difference between detection or acoustic invisibility. Reasons enough for diesel engine manufacturer MTU to offer a product the gives pleasure to their numerous motor yacht clients and appreciation from their naval ones. In a cooperative development with Stop-Choc part of the Hutchinson Group, MTU is offering a range of active engine mounts for some of their engine series.
It uses the same active element technology derived from the automotive and aircraft industries, a simple example being noise canceling headphones. Of course it is more complicated in the case of engine mounts for powerful diesel engines.
In the MTU system each of the four engine mounts consist of a vibration absorbing mount fixed to a solid box containing three vibration sensors and three force actuators, one for each axis. In addition to these twelve sensors, there are a further eight sensors located on the engine. The inputs are fed to a control unit and using special control algorithms are analyzed and an appropriate signal is generated and fed back to the mount actuators resulting in a net decrease in noise and vibration. Single peak vibration reductions of up to approximately 30 dB have been measured with an overall reduction of about 8 to 10 dB.
Active engine mounts are expected to find popularity in the luxury yacht market. The system also works well in special application vessels using double resilient engine mount systems such as research and survey ships.