In general, crankshafts which are used in internal combustion reciprocating engines are subjects to high torsional vibration. Therefore, a damper is often used to minimize the torsional vibration in reciprocating engines. In this paper, in order to investigate damping performance of viscous damper, the real effective viscosity and complex damping coefficient of silicone oil, and the effective inertia moment of inertia ring are calculated considering the relative motion between damper casing and inertia ring. Based on these results multi-cylinder shaft is modeled into equivalent 2-degree of freedom system and optimum condition is estimated by calculating the amplification factor of viscous damper. Also the test damper was manufactured according to the result of theoretical investigation, the performance and durability was ascertained through experimental examination.