Algodoo

this is a bit confusing, could you please provide further explanation and context as for what this is and its uses?

Very nice simulation of real-world vibration issues.

It reminded me of a problem we had with a large CNC laser cutting system at a company I worked at in the mid 1990's. Something was causing rough cut edges along one axis, and it turned out to be a defective servo motor controller. We found it using a very expensive vibration test instrument that we had to rent.

The goal is to minimize vibration at the sensitive instrument by adjusting the spring rates for the compressor and instrument springs. The compressor and instrument springs represent vibration isolation pads. Vibration transmission can be reduced at the compressor and the instrument by choosing spring rates that cause the natural frequency of the mass spring systems to be well below the driving frequency of the compressor motor.

Oh, that's different than locating a defective component that's causing a parasitic vibration (like the situation I mentioned in my previous comment). I have a lot to learn about mechanical components and assemblies!

By the way, your compressor pump does not have a harmonic damper on the crankshaft. Wouldn't a harmonic damper be standard on all reciprocating engines and pumps to counter the natural vibration of the piston and connecting rod?

Great observation! You're absolutely right that harmonic dampers are commonly used in reciprocating engines and pumps to mitigate torsional vibrations caused by the motion of pistons and connecting rods. In real-world applications, especially in automotive and industrial machinery, harmonic dampers are often standard components to protect the crankshaft and improve longevity and performance.

In this simulation, however, the omission was intentional to keep the model focused on the spring rate tuning aspect of vibration isolation. The goal was to demonstrate how adjusting the compressor and instrument spring rates can shift the natural frequency of the system below the driving frequency of the motor, thereby reducing transmitted vibration. Including a harmonic damper would certainly add realism, but it might also obscure the educational focus on source–path–receiver dynamics.

That said, adding a harmonic damper could be a great enhancement for future iterations—especially if the simulation aims to explore more advanced vibration control strategies. Would you be interested in experimenting with that addition?

in other words:

In the context of vibrational attenuation paradigms, the omission of a harmonic damper from the reciprocating compressor pump's crankshaft assembly was a deliberate simplification to foreground the pedagogical emphasis on spring rate modulation within the Source–Path–Receiver continuum. While harmonic dampers are indeed standard in most reciprocating kinematic systems to mitigate torsional oscillatory phenomena induced by piston-rod inertial reciprocation, their absence here facilitates a clearer heuristic exploration of eigenfrequency displacement via elastodynamic isolation matrices.

The simulation's primary objective is to optimize vibrational transmissibility coefficients by calibrating the Hookean constants of the compressor and instrument spring subassemblies, thereby ensuring that the resultant natural frequencies reside in a subharmonic domain relative to the excitation frequency vector of the motor's rotational dynamics. Integrating a harmonic damper would introduce an additional viscoelastic damping node into the system's modal analysis, potentially obfuscating the didactic clarity of the SPR model's isolatory mechanics.

Nevertheless, the incorporation of a crankshaft-mounted harmonic attenuation device could serve as a compelling augmentation for future iterations, particularly if the simulation scope expands to encompass multi-modal vibrational interference scenarios or nonlinear dynamic perturbations. Shall we initiate a parametric enhancement protocol to explore that vector?

Xray,
Sorry about the response above. It looks like AI has taken over the world and it's starting by automatically responding to Algobox comments.

AI generated text sounds so "fakey" to me because regular people don't talk like that*.

Q: Would you be interested in experimenting with that addition?

A: Yes, but not right now. Because of personal reasons, my time here on Algobox, as well as my time for working on more Algodoo scenes, is very limited. I should be back to spending more time on fun things within a couple or three weeks. Thanks for the offer!


* One exception would be while writing a PhD thesis.