Model and experimental analysis of the dynamic behaviour of air conditioning plant pipelines

This paper presents a model to describe the transmission of vibrations through the pipelines of automotive air conditioning plants. It is known that vibration propagating from the compressor to the other system components can affect both acoustical and structural behaviour. In this study a frequency domain description is purposed, using a transfer matrix formulation to study the pipe dynamics. This approach is particularly effective in the analysis of viscoelastic pipes, whose elastic and damping properties vary as a function of strain frequency. A method to identify the characteristics of the pipe wall material by dynamic tests is described. The model is then applied to the study of complex metal and viscoelastic pipe layouts, showing the good accordance between prediction and experimental data measured on test bench