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A primary concern in the design of serpentine belt drive systems is resonant strand vibrations induced from engine excitation. Two analysis approaches to investigate the system vibrational response have been reported in the literature. The first, denoted as the “decoupled analysis” approach, employs longitudinal belt stiffness and takes into account only pulley rotation and tensioner displacement as system degrees of freedom. Transverse belt vibration (normal to belt travel) on all belt strands is decoupled from the analysis. The second, denoted as the “coupled analysis” approach, combines transverse tensioner strand belt motion with pulley rotation and tensioner displacement. Transverse belt vibration on strands between fixed pulleys remains decoupled from the system. This paper provides apparently the first cross comparison of these two analysis techniques on three distinct serpentine belt system configurations reported in the literature.

Incessant demands to improve performance in automotive engines have popularized the use of contoured sector thrust bearings. This type of bearing has the mechanical ability generate a complete oil film that in turn can support high axial crankshaft loads and can reduce frictional drag torque. As a means of evaluating thrust bearing performance prior to production, we have designed and constructed an experimental apparatus. This experimental apparatus measures load, speed, torque, film temperature, and cross-film asperity contact resistance over a wide range of operating conditions representative in a real engine/ transmission combination. Concurrently, we have developed an analytical means of predicting oil film thickness, torque, and load using a finite element formulation of the Reynolds equation coupled with a mass-conserving cavitation algorithm.