Exhaust Flap Coupling With Vibration Damping for Noise Suppression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing exhaust flaps for internal combustion engines experience vibration-induced sound emission due to friction in pivot bearings, leading to noise perception in vehicles.
Innovation Solution
Incorporation of vibration damping material within the coupling arrangement, specifically using porous wire material like knitted wire or wire mesh, and heat shielding elements to absorb vibrations and reduce thermal transfer, ensuring effective sound damping and thermal insulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a coupling arrangement with pivot bearings is used to couple the drive element to the pivot shaft, then stable coupling and rotation are achieved, but friction occurs in the pivot bearings leading to vibration excitation and noise emission
Solution Approach 1:
A coupling element is introduced as an intermediary component between the drive element and the pivot shaft. This coupling element includes a coupling region for the drive element and a second coupling region for the pivot shaft, with at least one connecting region connecting them. The coupling element acts as a mediator that transmits rotational motion while reducing direct frictional contact and vibration transmission between the drive element and pivot shaft, thereby reducing noise emission while maintaining stable coupling.
2Ease of manufacture
If the coupling element is constructed from sheet metal material in an annular or U-shaped configuration, then ease of manufacture is improved, but the coupling element may transmit vibrations and require additional damping measures
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling element is constructed using composite material structures, combining sheet metal components with vibration damping materials. The sheet metal provides structural integrity and ease of manufacture in annular or U-shaped configurations, while integrated vibration damping materials (such as elastomeric or viscoelastic layers) are incorporated into the coupling element structure to absorb and dissipate vibrations, preventing their transmission while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If vibration damping material is added to the coupling arrangement, then noise emission is suppressed, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The vibration damping material is merged with the coupling element structure itself rather than being added as a separate component. The damping material is integrated into the coupling element's design, forming a unified structure where the sheet metal coupling regions and connecting regions are combined with vibration damping layers or structures. This integration reduces device complexity by eliminating separate damping components and simplifies manufacturing by combining multiple functions into a single manufactured part.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively suppresses sound emission by damping vibrations within the coupling arrangement and provides thermal shielding, reducing noise and heat transfer, thus enhancing the operational silence and efficiency of the exhaust flap.
Implementation Method 1
vibration damping material arranged in the area of the coupling arrangement
Implementation Method 2
When the pivot shaft pivots due to the pivot drive, friction occurs in the area of the pivot bearings
Implementation Method 3
a second heat shielding element on a side of the second coupling area facing the pivot shaft or the flap tube
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
An exhaust flap, in particular for the exhaust flow of an internal combustion engine, comprising a flap tube, a flap baffle carried inside the flap tube on a pivot shaft rotatable about a pivot axis, and a pivot drive for the pivot shaft with a drive element, further comprising a coupling arrangement (32) coupling the drive element to the pivot shaft for common rotation about the pivot axis, is characterized in that vibration damping material (64) is arranged in the area of the coupling arrangement (32).