Optimal fluid passageway design methodology for hydraulic engine mounts considering both low and high frequency performances

This paper investigates the potential for improving the performance of hydraulic engine mounts through fluid passageway designs. In previous studies, a few simple inertia track designs have been investigated with moderate improvements obtained. However, there are countless alternative design possibilities existing; while analyzing each one of them in turn is impracticable. To this end, this paper introduces a systematic methodology to optimize fluid passageway designs in a hydraulic engine mount. First, beneficial fluid passageway configurations are systematically identified using a linearized low-frequency model that captures the relative displacement transmissibility. A nonlinear model is then used to fine-tune the fluid passageway designs for the low-frequency transmissibility improvement, and also for the assessment of high-frequency dynamic stiffness performance. The obtained beneficial designs present performance advantages over a wide frequency range. The design approach introduced in this study is directly applicable to other engine mount models and performance criteria.