Vertical-Vibration Suppressing Design of Accumulator with New Vibration-Measuring Method

A compressor was developed using R32 which was a low GWP R32 refrigerant for coping with global warming. However, there is a tendency for vibrations of a compressor to also increase because the circulation of refrigerant increases according to specification for using R32 refrigerant. Since large vibrations of a compressor causes outdoor units to generate solid propagation sound, there is a need for a technology that can reduce vibration of a compressor. However, a vibration-measuring method to analyze such vibration had not been fully developed and it was difficult to specify the cause. Accordingly, a new vibration-measuring method was developed specifically for compressors. The use of this measuring method allowed to discover that one of the unresolved problems with sound of outdoor units was the vertical vibration of the accumulator housed in the compressor. Moreover, it was found that the accumulator vibrates vertically due to the acoustic resonance inside the casing, which led to develop a new (accumulator) design with a focus on resonance. There is a type of spatial resonance inside an accumulator that has a phase difference with the antinode of sound pressure appearing at the upper and lower ends of the space. The vertical force caused by the difference in the sound pressure becomes excitation force, which then causes vertical vibration of the accumulator. Therefore, preventing this resonance from occurring can help suppress the vertical vibration. In order to prevent the generation of resonance, a plate-shaped reflection member was placed inside the accumulator, and it proved to be effective in suppressing the vertical vibration.