Machinery such as steam turbines, compressors, and generators are rotating machines. Over the years these machines have become very complex, due to the increased need for higher speed rotating machinery. Overtime these machines develop excessive dynamic stresses if they are ran at speeds near to their natural frequencies or under abnormal operating conditions. Many technological advances in the aerospace and automotive industries can be held accountable for these faster speeds. Currently, machinery diagnostics is being used to monitor rotating machinery and determine their condition while in operation. To determine how a system will behave under certain operation conditions, a physics-based model of the system can be modeled and analyzed using finite element analysis. These results will provide stress, deformation, flexibility, stiffness, and vibration characteristics of the system. These results can show where the critical points are on the system and how the system’s load is distributed. By using finite element techniques engineers can simulate the behavior of the system under different loading conditions, which can justify the selection of a particular design alternative, and ultimately save time and money. This paper discusses our technical approach used to develop a physics-based model of a rotor dynamic system and discusses results of this research effort.
Vibrational Diagnostics of Rotating Machinery Malfunctions
