Method for Determining a Life Condition of a Vibration Damper or Absorber, and Arrangement for Carrying Out Such a Method

A method for determining a service life condition of a vibration damper having a primary mass and a secondary mass, and having a working chamber which is arranged between the primary mass and the secondary mass and is filled with a viscous damping medium, wherein the vibration damper is arranged on a crankshaft of an engine in order to dampen or eliminate torsional vibrations of the crankshaft, the crankshaft forming part of the engine, the method comprising:

• S1) operating the engine;
• S2) determining at least one operating parameter of the engine;
• S3) simulating a temperature distribution of the viscous damping medium in the working chamber;
• and
• S4) determining a lifetime condition of the vibration damper based on the at least one operating parameter of the engine and a result of the simulating of the temperature distribution of the viscous damping medium.

An arrangement for determining a service life condition of a vibration damper, comprising:

• a vibration damper;
• an engine coupled to the vibration damper and having an engine control;
• and
• an evaluation device comprising a computer that executes at least one simulation program for temperature distributions of a viscous damping medium in a working chamber of the vibration damper, the computer unit having at least one memory device for storing data.