Torsional vibration suppression of a vehicle powertrain by a multi-stable nonlinear energy sink

•The torsional vibration suppression of a vehicle powertrain is studied by a MSNES.•The response surface optimization is employed to design the MSNES parameters.•A scaled model of the powertrain system is developed to conduct experiments.•The experimental realization of the MSNES validates the numerical results. In response to the issue of broadband torsional vibrations generated by high power density powertrain systems, a multi-stable nonlinear energy sink (MSNES) is proposed. The basic principles and structure of the MSNES are introduced. The installation position of the MSNES is determined by studying the results of sensitivity analysis and the vibration mode, thereby establishing the dynamic model of the powertrain-MSNES system. The response surface optimization method is employed to ascertain the optimal parameter combination for the MSNES. Furthermore, the vibration suppression performance of the MSNES is compared to that of the traditional linear dynamic vibration absorber (LDVA). For the feasibility of the experiment, a scale model of the powertrain system is established. The reliability of the scaled model and the effectiveness of the MSNES on the scaled model are verified. Finally, experimental verification is conducted. The results indicate that the MSNES can efficiently diminish multi-modal transient vibrations across a wide frequency band by employing resonance capture cascade (RCC). Furthermore, multiple strongly modulated response (SMR) regions are presented, effectively mitigating steady-state vibrations. The displacement attenuation speed in transient responses can reach 89.66 %. Meanwhile, the MSNES demonstrates impressive vibration suppression rates, reaching 81.22 % in simulations and 74 % in experiments for steady-state responses.