Engine Pedestal Vibration: A New Solution Approach

using a Tuned-Mass Damper

By

Zachary Dobberthien, BSc, EIT Juan Torres, BSc, PEng

Design Analyst Product Engineer
Wood Wood
Calgary, Alberta Calgary, Alberta
[email protected] [email protected]

GMRC Gas Machinery Conference

1 to 4 October 2023
Phoenix, AZ

1
Abstract
Engine driven machinery packages are common in industry, for a wide range of compressor/pumping applications.
However, reciprocating engines have their own set of considerations and challenges during the design stage,
specifically related to vibration control and mitigation. Among those challenges, driver engines have an inherent
excitation torque, commonly called ‘rolling torque’, which acts at 4x operating speed in the axis of the machine
crankshaft.

Moreover, engine pedestals can also have a lateral mechanical natural frequency (MNF), coincident with 4x operating
speed. This problem is most pronounced for engines where the oil pan is situated below the engine feet, and the
pedestal rails are cantilevered. Traditional solutions for pedestal flexibility may include structural bracing to the skid or
foundation. However, to add sufficient stiffness to the pedestal the braces generally need to be large and can create
issues of available space around the engine.

Tuned mass dampers (TMDs) are a vibration-control device that makes use of a mass and spring tuned to a specific
problem frequency to eliminate a single mechanical natural frequency of the base system. The device will create two
new MNFs above and below the original with enough margin to avoid resonance. The addition of damping elements
to a TMD can further reduce the system response at the two new MNFs. TMDs also do not require significant bracing
to other structure or foundation, as the device is typically self-contained, and can have a notably smaller footprint
than equivalent traditional bracing.

Therefore, TMDs were considered as a potential solution for a specific vibration issue on an engine driven
reciprocating compressor package. Among other solutions, the TMD was deemed most effective, as the vibration was
the result of a coincidence of the engine rolling torque at 4x operating speed, and the lateral MNF of the pedestal
flanges. The vibration was occurring at a specific frequency, and a set of six TMDs were designed with sufficient modal
mass to affect the problem MNF.

The objective of this paper is to present a case study on the use of TMDs as a solution to an engine vibration
problem, including the decision-making, design process, results, and lessons learned. This provides an alternate
solution for difficult engine/machinery vibration issues, and may be of interest to vibration specialists, operators, or
packagers.

2
Introduction
Reciprocating Engines
Reciprocating engines have inherent unbalanced forces and moments acting on them. Most often, consideration at
the design stage is given to the loads acting at 1x and 2x machine operating speed as these loads are typically the
highest amplitude. In 2019, the GMRC published “Engine pedestal design – case study and lesson learned”, which
provides more details on typical engine design practices, considerations, and modelling guidance.

In addition to these loads, a significant moment about the engine crankshaft axis is generated at multiples of 4x
machine operation speed, known as the “rolling torque”. See Figure 1 and Figure 2 below for examples of vendor
provided unbalanced loads and rolling torques, respectively.

Figure 1 - Example of vendor provided unbalanced forces and moments on an engine

Figure 2 – Example of vendor provided rolling torque on an engine

Following standard design principles for reciprocating engines, the rolling torque and other higher order excitations
can usually be addressed at the design stage. However, many engine designs include an oil pan situated below the
engine feet, requiring the pedestal to have a U-shaped cross section without full depth concrete in-fill. The increased
lateral flexibility of the pedestal rails can, in certain arrangements, results in a mechanical natural frequency coinciding
with the 4x rolling torque.

3
Tuned-Mass Dampers
Tuned-mass dampers (TMD) are a vibration control device that works by adding an additional spring-mass set to an
existing system, where the TMD spring-mass is tuned to the same MNF as the base system. The result is that the
vibration of the base system is split from the original resonant response peak into two new MNFs, one at the higher
frequency MNF and one at a lower frequency, and each with a lower vibration response than the original system. The
frequencies of the resultant peaks are a function of the ratio between the absorber sprung mass and the effective
participating mass of the main system. For the case where the excitation frequency is known and generally
unchanged, such as a harmonic of a machine operating speed, the vibration at that frequency is significantly reduced.

The inclusion of damping elements to the TMD results in a further decrease of the vibration response at the side
peaks, making it a suitable alternative for variable-speed machinery or broadband excitations.

Figure 3 – Example plot of the effect of a TMD on a vibrating component

4
Project Background
Wood was contracted to address a lateral vibration issue on the driver engines for a reciprocating compressor
package design. The compressor packages consisted of an Ariel JGD/4 reciprocating compressors driven by CAT
G3608 reciprocating engines, as shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5. Vibration of the engine, pedestal, and associated
piping/small-bore was a known problem, measuring up to 13 mm/s 0-pk at the top flange of the pedestal beams, as
shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7.

Field measurements identified high lateral vibration of the engine and pedestal at 4x operating speed, and no
significant vibration at other orders of operating speed. Finite element modelling found a mechanical natural
frequency (MNF) of the engine/pedestal in the lateral direction, coincident with 4x operating speed at 1000 RPM.

Figure 4 – Photo of engine and pedestal

5
Figure 5 – Photo of engine and pedestal

6
 Figure 6 - Field vibration measurement locations on engine pedestal

Figure 7 - Field vibration measurements, Lateral vibration @ 66.7 Hz (4x)

Figure 8 – Example plots of an “Engine Rolling Mode”

7
Potential Structural Solutions

Several potential structural modifications were proposed to reduce the pedestal vibration to the desired level of 5
mm/s 0-pk at the top flange of the engine pedestal. A selection of the proposed designs are shown below in Figure 9,
along with their predicted reduction of lateral vibration along the length of the engine pedestal. FEA models were run
to test the effectiveness of these other solutions, as well as the TMD solution. A sample of a deformation plot from
FEA for solution (c) is shown in Figure 10.

8
 (a) Pedestal box stiffening plates, 30mm thk

(b) Pedestal box stiffening and skid grout infill

(c) Pedestal stiffening beams, HSS 100x100

(d) Pedestal box plates and heavier stiffening beams , HSS 150x150
Figure 9 - Potential engine pedestal modifications

9
 Figure 10 – HSS pedestal braces, FEA predicted deformation

All proposed modifications do result in lower vibration on the engine pedestal, though some are more effective than
others. Some of the modifications also carry with them significant impacts on fabrication cost and time, as well as the
requirement to either avoid or reroute existing piping and other package equipment.

TMD Solution
As part of the evaluation of potential structural modifications, and FEA model was built using 6 TMD devices and
tested in the same manner.

10
Based on relative effectiveness at reducing the pedestal vibration, as well as the relative cost and intrusiveness of
installation, the structural modifications were rejected in favour of the TMD solution.

11
TMD Design Implementation
Preliminary FEA modelling determined that a TMD with a total sprung mass of 600 kg would be required to affect the
vibration of the engine. For the practically of the installation, this was accomplished with 6x 100 kg TMDs, installed
adjacent the engine feet connections to the pedestal. Within each of the TMDs the 100 kg was divided further into 2
symmetric spring plates, each with 2x 25 kg weights blocks on either end of the plate.

The TMDs were to be installed as close to the engine feet as possible to ensure close-coupling between the vibration
of the engine and the TMDs. To avoid interferences with other auxiliary components on the package the TMDs were
mounted using a custom mounting structure as shown in Figure 11. The vertical plate is designed to be flexible in the
horizontal direction to allow for the pedestal movement to transfer to the TMD unimpeded.

Figure 11 - Single TMD assembly, with case and on mounting arm structure

12
Figure 12 - Partially assembled TMD, case removed

13
Lab Verification and Calibration
Calibration of the TMD is performed in lab, to verify the tuned frequency of the TMD will match the problem
frequency of the engine. Further lab testing was also performed to:

1) Measure the strain on the TMD flex plate, as this component is designed to be very tolerant of high
deformation,
2) To quantify the risk of eventual fatigue failure on the internal components, and
3) To quantify the effect of damping on the behavior and performance of the TMD

A single TMD flex plate was installed on the Instron 1331 Dynamic Testing Machine, to simulate the base excitation
input and verify the behavior of the TMD. Figure 13 shows the flex plate assembly installed on the Instron machine,
and includes labels for revelant components.

3
4

9 6 8

Figure 13 - TMD flex plate testing setup on Instron Test Machine

Raw vibration and strain data were captured using a nominal base excitation in the vertical direction over a frequency
range of 58-80 Hz. Results shown in this section are generally presented as either:

1) Normalized to the base motion of the TMD, i.e. the stress in the flex plate per unit vibration of the base
2) Linearly scaled to correspond to a 5mm/s base excitation, based on the desired vibration limits for the
equipment, i.e. the extrapolated stress on the flex plate, assuming a 5 mm/s base excitation

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 𝑚𝑚
𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 [ 𝑜𝑟 𝑀𝑃𝑎]
𝑠
𝑚𝑚
𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑉𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 [ ]
𝑠
𝑚𝑚⁄ 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑜𝑟 𝑀𝑃𝑎 𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑥 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒
𝑠
= 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 [ 𝑚𝑚⁄ 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒 ]
𝑠

𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑠 × 5 𝑚𝑚⁄𝑠 𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑉𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

= 𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 [𝑚𝑚⁄𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑜𝑟 𝑀𝑃𝑎 𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑥 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒]

Figure 14 shows the raw vibration data captured in the lab. Measurements were taken on the near and far TMD
weight blocks and on the mounting block as a reference. Figure 15 shows the vibration of the TMD weight blocks
normalized to the motion of the base mounting block.

3.5

Center, Damped
3 Far Wing, Damped
Near Wing, Damped
Center, Undamped
2.5
Measured Vibration [g, 0-pk]

Far wing, Undamped

Near wing, Undamped

1.5

0.5

0
58 63 68 73 78

Excitation Frequency [Hz]

Figure 14 - Lab test data, undamped VS damped TMD vibration

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 90

80
Normalized Vibration of TMD weights
[TMD weights/base vibration] Far Weight Vibration, Damped
70 Near Weight Vibration, Damped
Far Weight Vibration, Undamped
60 Near Weight Vibration, Undamped

50

40

30

20

10

0
0.9 0.95 1 1.05 1.1
Excitation Frequency Ratio, f/fn
Figure 15 – Normalized vibration of the TMD weights, updamped VS damped TMD vibration

The effective damping ratio can be estimated using the half-power method, and is shown in Table 1 for the
undamped and damped configurations. Comparing the peak vibration and estimated damping ratios, it was proven
that the inclusion of damping elements in the TMD has a significant effect on the performance of the TMD.

Table 1 - TMD weight vibration and damping ratio

Undamped Damped
Peak vibration
(ratio between TMD weight and base) 84.1 7.15

9.28%
0.789%
Estimated damping ratio (scaled, based on peak vibration ratio. Half
(half power method)
power not practical)

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An array of strain gauges were installed on one half of the flex plate, to measure the stress in the flex plate during
testing and to verify the symmetry of the testing setup. Figure 17 shows the measured stress data from strain gauge
location #1.

Strain gauges were installed to accommodate hotspot stress extrapolation, to estimate the bending stress at the joint
with the mounting blocks. Figure 18 shows the measured and predicted stress on the flex plate for undamped and
damped configurations.

Table 2 – Flex plate strain gauge measurement locations

Strain Gauge # Location Description

1 6.35 mm, top of plate
For hotspot extrapolation, placed at 0.4x, 0.9x, and 1.4x
2 14.29 mm, top of plate
the plate thickness
3 22.23 mm, top of plate
Verification of constant bending stress along the width
4 14.29 mm, top middle of plate
of the plate
Verification of symmetric dynamic bending stress
5 14.29 mm, reverse side of plate
through the plate thickness

Figure 16 – Strain gauge layout on the flex plate

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 14.00 80
66.16 Hz, 12.87 MPa

Vibration Measurement, Near TMD Weight [mm/s,

66.16 Hz, 67.36 mm/s 70
12.00
Dynamic Stress Measurement [MPa, 0-pk]

60
10.00 Bending Stress 1, Undamped
Bending Stress 1, Damped
Weight Vibration, Undamped 50
8.00 Weight Vibration, Damped

0-pk]
40

6.00
66.89 Hz, 21.84 mm/s 30
67.38 Hz, 3.7008 MPa
4.00
20

2.00
10

0.00 0
58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80
Excitation Frequency [Hz]
Figure 17 – Strain gauge measurements on flex plate, undamped VS damped

30
Mounting block [MPa/(mm/s) 0-pk]
Bending Stress at Distance from

25

20

15 Undamped
Damped
10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Distance from Mounting Block [mm]

Figure 18 – Normalized stress measured on flex plate included hotspot extrapolation, undamped VS damped

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 140
Bending Stress [MPa 0-pk], scaled to 5mm/s
132.9 MPa 0-pk
120

100
base vibration

80 Undamped
Damped
Class B CAFL
60

40

20
6.2 MPa 0-pk

0
0.9 0.95 1 1.05 1.1
Excitation Frequency Ratio, f/fn

Figure 19 – Flex plated stress, scaled to 5mm/s 0-pk base excitation, undamped, VS damped

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Field Installation and Measurements
Six of the TMD devices were installed on one of the engine pedestals, in a staged installation to evaluate the effect of
each pair of TMDs individually. Figure 20 and Figure 21 show the TMD installed in place. Figure 22 shows a summary
of the vibration measurements at 15 locations, before and after the full set of 6 TMDs were installed.

Figure 20 – TMD #2 Installation on left-hand side of engine

Figure 21 - 3 TMDs Installed on Engine RHS

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 Engine Midline 5.72 5.47
10.20 6.50
1.73 2.71
3.46 2.96
4.28 4.41
3.62 4.73
9.74 11.72
Engine Foot

13.14 12.18
6.99 8.58
4.47 3.75
6.01 5.19
5.29 5.25
7.37 9.31
Pedestal Bottom Pedestal Midline Pedestal Flange

10.99 13.07
5.37 7.15
3.90 2.53
4.95 3.04
3.70 3.40
1.11 2.01
1.60 2.36 As-Built, DE
0.17 0.96
As-Built, Mid
0.51 0.82
0.71 0.50 As-Built, NDE
0.63 0.80
TMD x6, DE
0.58 0.43
0.93 TMD x6, Mid
0.58
0.44 0.27 TMD x6, NDE
0.22 0.23
0.52 0.08
0.32 0.18

0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15

Horizontal Vibration, LHS [mm/s, 0-pk] Horizontal Vibration, RHS [mm/s, 0-pk]

Figure 22 - Engine Lateral Vibration Measurements @ 66.7 Hz, Before VS After TMDs Installed

Vibration on the pedestal and engine feet have been reduced from the baseline vibration measurements, with a 75%
and 50% reduction from as-built design, respectively.

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Conclusions
Reciprocating engines are a mainstay in compressor package designs but can present difficult vibration problems if
not address at the design stage. TMDs represent a unique solution to challenging vibration problems, where
traditional bracing or structural modifications are undesirable or impossible. A TMD solution is only viable when a
vibration problem is due to the coincidence of an MNF of a system with a source of excitation, and the addition of
damping to the TMD design can greatly improve the vibration reduction.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the following for their contributions to this project.
• Tim Bootsveld: Project manager responsible for this project
• Mathieu Barabe: Products engineer responsible for the initial design
• Kelly Eberle: Principal engineer and technical resource for the project
• Raj Singh: Project manager and client coordinator

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