arrow_back_ios

Main Menu

See All Acoustic End-of-Line Test Systems See All DAQ and instruments See All Electroacoustics See All Software See All Transducers See All Vibration Testing Equipment See All Academy See All Resource Center See All Applications See All Industries See All Insights See All Services See All Support See All Our Business See All Our History See All Our Sustainability Commitment See All Global Presence
arrow_back_ios

Main Menu

See All Actuators See All Combustion Engines See All Durability See All eDrive See All Production Testing Sensors See All Transmission & Gearboxes See All Turbo Charger See All DAQ Systems See All High Precision and Calibration Systems See All Industrial electronics See All Power Analyser See All S&V Hand-held devices See All S&V Signal conditioner See All Test Solutions See All DAQ Software See All Drivers & API See All nCode - Durability and Fatigue Analysis See All ReliaSoft - Reliability Analysis and Management See All Test Data Management See All Utility See All Vibration Control See All Acoustic See All Current / voltage See All Displacement See All Load Cells See All Pressure See All Strain Gauges See All Torque See All Vibration See All LDS Shaker Systems See All Power Amplifiers See All Vibration Controllers See All Accessories for Vibration Testing Equipment See All Training Courses See All Articles See All Acoustics See All Asset & Process Monitoring See All Custom Sensors See All Data Acquisition & Analysis See All Durability & Fatigue See All Electric Power Testing See All NVH See All Reliability See All Smart Sensors See All Vibration See All Weighing See All Automotive & Ground Transportation See All Calibration See All Installation, Maintenance & Repair See All Support Brüel & Kjær See All Release Notes See All Compliance See All Our People
arrow_back_ios

Main Menu

See All CANHEAD See All GenHS See All LAN-XI See All MGCplus See All Optical Interrogators See All QuantumX See All SomatXR See All Accessories See All BK Connect / Pulse See All API See All Microphone Sets See All Microphone Cartridges See All Acoustic Calibrators See All Special Microphones See All Microphone Pre-amplifiers See All Sound Sources See All Accessories for acoustic transducers See All Experimental testing See All Transducer Manufacturing (OEM) See All Accessories See All Non-rotating (calibration) See All Rotating See All CCLD (IEPE) accelerometers See All Charge Accelerometers See All Impulse hammers / impedance heads See All Cables See All Accessories See All Electroacoustics See All Noise Source Identification See All Environmental Noise See All Sound Power and Sound Pressure See All Noise Certification See All Industrial Process Control See All Structural Health Monitoring See All Electrical Devices Testing See All Electrical Systems Testing See All Grid Testing See All High-Voltage Testing See All Vibration Testing with Electrodynamic Shakers See All Structural Dynamics See All Machine Analysis and Diagnostics See All Dynamic Weighing See All Calibration Services for Transducers See All Calibration Services for Handheld Instruments See All Calibration Services for Instruments & DAQ See All On-Site Calibration See All Resources See All Software License Management

Dyno Dynamics: High-Speed Engine Dynamometers

Dyno Dynamics, Australia

Introduction

yno Dynamics is an Australian company that has been at the forefront of dynamometer design for more than 25 years. They have customers worldwide, from as far as Aruba and Abu Dhabi, with a strong presence in both the USA and UK.

The company's best sellers is their line of 2-wd, 4-wd and motorcycle dynamometers for the automotive service industry, but Dyno Dynamics also manufactures truck, bus, and engine dynamometers, for everything from go-karts to locomotive diesel engines. They recently chose HBK Australia to supply torque sensors for a new high-speed, high-power engine dynamometer design.

chevron_left
chevron_right

New High-Speed Engine Design

When Dyno Dynamics set out to design a new high-speed engine dynamometer, they knew it would be more than just an upgrade to one of their existing models. With requirements of 10,000 rpm and 1,000 Hp (approx. 750 kW), a new approach was needed.

The power rating was not an issue, Dyno Dynamics has built higher-rated engine dynamometers in the past. It was the 10,000 RPM input speed that needed some thought. Given other design constraints, they chose to use eddy current retarders, as these are compact, robust, and fast-acting.

Dyno Dynamics has shipped thousands of retarders over the past 20 years, with very few in-service failures. However, off-the-shelf retarders for higher power ratings are generally limited to 4,000-5,000 rpm.

The clear solution is a gearbox to reduce the shaft speed to something more manageable. An off-the-shelf industrial gearbox for the power required would be both large and expensive if Dyno Dynamics could source one.  Was there an alternative?

The solution came from the racing world: the dynamometer is designed for high-power racing V8s.

A V8 supercar differential , complete with oil cooler With a 2.86:1 ratio, the output shaft speed is reduced to a more manageable 3,500 rpm, and the two output (axle) shafts allow compact fitting of a pair of retarders.

The Solution: A Torque-Damping Coupling

The rotational speed of an internal combustion engine is never constant.  The crank is slowed down by each compression stroke, and accelerated by the power stroke.

Although the engine’s flywheel averages out the rotation to some extent, there is still a pronounced speed (and torque) oscillation, especially at low revs. This oscillation can cause severe stress on driveline components, and this is especially true with engine dynamometers/motors, where there is little “give” in the driveline; no tires or suspension to allow a little flex.

The solution is a torque-damping coupling. This is engineered to a precise torsional stiffness. Peak torques and rotational vibrations of the motor are largely neutralized through the use of the rotational vibration damper, thereby protecting the transmission from excessive wear.

The coupling Dyno Dynamics chose was a TECTOS t600, which is produced specifically for the engine test industry.

TECTOS t600 With the basic mechanical layout resolved, they focused on instrumentation. At the heart of a successful dynamometer is accurate measurement of torque and speed. Additional data acquisition is usually required, but torque and speed are critical.

For speed measurement, they used their tried and tested toothed wheel / inductive pickup. These have proven reliable over many years. Torque measurement was a different challenge. Accurate results require measuring the input torque to the gearbox, so as to include gearbox drag.

This meant that Dyno Dynamics could not use the standard torque-reaction arm and load cell.  A shaft torque transducer was required.

After extensive research, Dyno Dynamics decided on the HBK T40B. With a rating of 15,000 RPM /2,000 Nm, it matched the dynamometer design specs, and its compact profile allowed for a simple mounting layout. 

The T40B is a flange-type sensor, with contactless signal transmission. This allows a very compact mounting profile, as the sensor is only 59 mm deep .

Why Dyno Dynamics Chose HBK

Dyno Dynamics chose HBK as a supplier for a number of reasons. The product fit the requirements at a competitive price, and a major benefit was access to technical support provided by local engineering representatives. 

HBK’s sales engineer Michael Lanksch took a keen interest in the project, and came out to the factory to discuss the project with their design team. 

The design process was simplified by HBK providing a 3D model of the transducer in SolidWorks format, which integrated with their existing CAD system.

Functional principles of dynamometers

All dynamometers need some means of absorbing the power produced by the motor under test, usually converting it to heat. The two most common power absorbers are “water brakes” and “eddy current retarders”.

  • Water brakes effectively use the motor to pump water through a variable restriction, causing the water to heat up. This heat is then removed via a cooling tower of some kind.
  • Eddy Current retarders use the motor to spin a series of disks sandwiched between electromagnets (coils). As the conductive disk moves through the magnetic field, its motion causes inductive heating of the disks. The disks can be either air or water cooled.

The world renowned Dyno Dynamics has been designing and manufacturing chassis dynamometers and engine dynamometers for over 25 years and is the largest dyno manufacturer in the southern hemisphere. The reason for this is - we don't just sell dynos, we provide total business solutions.

Dyno Dynamics is now owned and operated by a team committed to ensuring the company continues to produce world class chassis and engine dynamometers. The team has injected significant capital into the business as well as being personally involved in the company.

The new ownership team is SPY Autotech (Australia) Pty Ltd

Technology used

Other case studies