Reduction of Vibration in Brush Cutter by Unbalancing Centrifugal Clutch Weight

Abstract

In this study, we attempted to reduce handle vibration in a brush cutter by unbalancing the centrifugal clutch weight. The individual contributions to handle vibration of the up-down and left-right vibration at the clutch cover were first analyzed. The results showed the largest contribution was from the left-right vibration. We therefore tried to reduce the left-right vibration by unbalancing the clutch weight. A small weight was placed on one side of two clutch shoes to reduce the input force along the left-right direction. The first-order left-right vibration at the clutch cover was found to be strongly reduced, with only a slight increase in the up-down vibration. The results indicated that handle vibration could be reduced by about 10dB using the unbalanced clutch.