LuK GmbH & Co. KG · Germany

Torsion dampers minimise torsion excitation within the powertrain and therefore enhance comfort. This can also be achieved by slip on the lock-up clutch, although this inevitably increases fuel consumption. Torsion dampers have practically no influence on fuel consumption. There are various arrangements and shapes within converters of torsion dampers. It is often necessary to optimise these to the vehicle application in question. This where LuK can draw on its long-established experience of standard production and use its calculation tools to optimise damper arrangement (turbine dampers, conventional dampers, dual dampers etc.), spring shapes (straight or elbow springs), spring rates and the necessary damper frictions.

Conventional dampers
The damper within the powertrain is arranged before the turbine. These dampers are ideally suited to 4-cylinder front-cross applications as an internal damper with straight springs or as an outer damper with elbow springs. However, because on automatic transmission gearboxes the transmission intake shaft is realised with soft torsion and therefore acts as a spring itself, in certain applications, the converter turbine can vibrate under its own resonance in the drivable range, thus causing higher noise levels.

Turbine dampers
The damper is arranged in the force flow behind the turbine, so that damper springs and transmission intake shaft are connected in series, creating a very soft spring. The turbine is arranged as a mass on the engine side. This eliminates the need for the turbine shape common to the conventional damper. What’s more, this damper is always arranged in the force flow, enabling hydrodynamic vibrations in open converter operation to be damped. The turbine damper is designed primarily for 6 and 8 cylinder engines with standard and 4-wheel drive.

Dual torsion damper
Series-connected damper arrangements can also offer benefits for special applications.