Multibody modeling and vibration dynamics analysis of washing machines

In this paper a computational model of a horizontal axis washing machine is presented. The model has been built using a theoretical-experimental methodology consisting of integration of multibody system (MBS) formalism, detailed modeling of machine functional components and experimental data-based validation. The complete model of a washing machine is implemented in the commercial MBS environment Adams/View from MSC.Software. An undesirable impact of washing machine operation on the surroundings is vibration and noise. The impact comes from system dynamics and poorly distributed load inside the drum, creating an imbalance. To get insight into vibration dynamics extensive simulations have been performed for washing machines in service as well as for machines in the developing stage by using the created computational model. This paper presents several results of numerical studies of the vibration dynamics of washing machines including the study of sensitivity of system dynamics with respect to suspension structural parameters, and the results of investigation of the potential of the automatic counterbalancing technology for vibration output reduction. In particular, simulations of the considered two-plane balancing device has shown an existing significant potential in eliminating unbalanced load at supercritical spinning speed, resulting in a substantial vibration reduction in washing machines.