Prediction and Comparison of Critical Speeds and Potential Excitation Using In-House Developed Software for an Integrally Geared Centrifugal Air Compressor

Author(s):  
Mathew P. James ◽  
Pavan Kumar Reddy Pandillapalli ◽  
Swaminathan Gopalakrishnan

Integrally Geared Centrifugal Air Compressors (IGCAC) are becoming popular in many industrial applications. Development of such compressors requires in depth Rotordynamic Design and Analysis. To facilitate this, an in-house computer program based on transfer matrix method was developed using MATLAB® software. This computer program is capable of computing rotordynamic parameters such as static deflection, critical speed and interference diagram, and can output critical speed map, mode shape, unbalance response, orbit, for lateral direction. This software was used to analyze a two stage IGCAC with two impellers on a simply supported rotor running above second critical speed, driven by a two pole induction motor through a step-up gearbox. Undamped critical speed map, an output from the program was used to predict intended bearing stiffness for design. Using the above data and commercially available software DyRoBeS© a suitable bearing was designed. The speed dependent bearing characteristics, an output from DyRoBeS©, were used to determine damped unbalance response plot for a given residual unbalance. Corresponding to a maximum peak in unbalance response the damped critical speed and amplification factors (AF) were found out. The results from the newly developed software were compared with prediction from DyRoBeS©. It was found that critical speed was within 5% and AF was of the same order. Results from in-house software were comparable to that from DyRoBeS©. Based on the guidelines from API 684, the AF and separation margins were determined. A prototype IGCAC compressor as described above was built and tested. The testing included the collection of steady state, coast-up and coast-down data. Using the coast-up, coast-down data, a Bode plot was created. From this the critical speeds and AF’s were determined and compared with results from in-house software. It was found there was an error of less than 5% for the critical speed and around 5% for AF from the predicted results. For the same compressor a study on the potential excitation frequencies due to unbalance, impeller-diffuser and impeller-scroll tongue interactions were calculated. FFT of the steady state vibration data was deduced. It was found that the calculated frequency and measured frequency at maximum amplitude were aligning. Further noise measurements were recorded based on sound intensity as per guidelines in ISO 9614. The impeller-tongue interaction frequencies for stages were seen in the processed noise data. It was found that the predictions were in good agreement with the test results.

Author(s):  
Yiming Han ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
Xuyang Jin ◽  
Shanshan Wang ◽  
Rui Zhang

Under steady-state pure rolling conditions with low speed, the thickener fiber agglomerations can be maintained for a long time, generating a beneficial thicker film thickness. However, in industrial applications, motions with sliding or transient effects are very common for gears, rolling-element bearings or even chain drives, evaluation of the grease performance under such conditions is vital for determining the lubrication mechanism and designing new greases. In this project, optical interferometry experiments were carried out on a ball-disk test rig to study the disintegration time of the grease thickener agglomerations with the increase of the slide-to-roll ratio under steady-state and reciprocation motions. Under steady-state conditions, the thickener fiber agglomeration can exist for a while and the time becomes shorter with the increase of the slide-to-roll ratio above the critical speed. Below the critical speed, the thickener fiber can exist in the contact in the form of a quite thick film for a very long time under pure rolling conditions but that time is decreased with the increase of the slide-to-roll ratio. The introduction of the transient effect can further reduce the existence time of the thickener.


Author(s):  
John J. Yu ◽  
Siddharth Ashar

It was surprisingly reported that a generator rotor could not be balanced to an acceptable vibration level by weights at two balance planes at the drive end (DE) and the non-drive end (NDE) fan rings. Both real measured vibration data and rotordynamic calculations indicate that the rotor at rated speed of 3600 rpm appears to run just above the 2nd critical speed (couple or conical mode). However, couple weights (same weights placed at both DE and NDE with 180-degree-out-of-phase) have little effect on 1X vibration response. A third balance plane had to be utilized to effectively reduce vibration. This paper uses measured data and rotordynamic modelling to explain these findings. It is found that the 4th mode could affect synchronous vibration response at rated speed significantly besides the 3rd mode. The two fan ring balance planes appear to be near the nodal points of the 4th mode, which explains ineffectiveness of the couple weights to vibration response at rated speed in the field. Measured data from real machines including influence vectors are presented from third balance planes such as the coupling and the exciter ends, besides the fan ring wheels. The 3rd and 4th rotordynamic modes are also given along with unbalance response studies.


Author(s):  
Jawad Chaudhry ◽  
Tim Dimond ◽  
Amir Younan ◽  
Paul Allaire

A large alternator/flywheel/motor train is employed as part of the power system for the ALCATOR C-MOD experiment at the MIT Plasma Fusion Center. The alternator is used to provide peak pulse power of 100 MW to the magnets employed in the fusion experiment. The flywheel diameter is 3.3m and the alternator is 1.8 m in diameter. After being driven up to full speed over a long period of time by a 1491 kW motor, the alternator is rapidly decelerated from approximately 1800 rpm to 1500 rpm during a 2 second interval. This sequence is repeated about six times per working day on average. A full lateral rotordynamic analysis of the including the rotors, fluid film bearings and unbalanced motor magnetic force was carried to assess the effects of rotor modifications in the alternator shaft bore. This paper provides a more detailed analysis of a complicated rotor train than is often performed for most rotors. Critical speeds, stability and unbalance response were evaluated to determine if lateral critical speeds might exist in the operating speed range in the existing or modified rotor train and if unbalance levels were within acceptable ranges. Critical speeds and rotor damping values determined for the rotor system with the existing and modified rotor. The first critical speed at 1069 rpm is an alternator mode below the operating speed range. The second critical speed is also an alternator mode but, at 1528 rpm, is in the rundown operating speed range. The third critical speed is a flywheel mode at 1538 rpm, also in the rundown operating speed range but well damped. The predicted highest rotor amplitude unbalance response level is at 1633 rpm, again in the operating speed range. Direct comparisons were made with measured bearing temperature values, with good agreement between calculations and measurements. Stress levels in the rotor were evaluated and found to be well below yield stress levels for the material for both original and modified rotors. Comparisons we carried out between standard vibration specifications and measured vibration levels which indicated that the third critical speed amplification factors were much higher than API standards indicate they should have been. Corrective actions to reduce unbalance were taken for the modified rotor.


Author(s):  
T. N. Shiau ◽  
J. R. Chang ◽  
W. B. Lu

This paper presents the multi-objective optimization of a geared rotor-bearing system with the critical speeds constraints by using an efficient multilevel algorithm. The weight of each rotor shaft, the unbalance response, and the response due to the transmission error are minimized simultaneously under the critical speed constraints. The design variables are the inner radii of the shaft, the stiffness of bearings, and the gear mesh stiffness. The finite element method (FEM) is employed to analyze the dynamic characteristics and the method of feasible direction (MFD) is applied in the optimization of the single objective stage. Based on the sensitivity analysis that gear mesh stiffness has almost no influences on the critical speeds of the uncoupled modes of two shafts, an efficient multilevel algorithm composed of system and subsystem levels is developed. In the cycle of iteration, the minimization of the shaft weight is performed in the subsystem level with the critical speed constraints of only uncoupled modes of two shafts and the unbalance response and the transmission error response are reduced in the system level with the critical speed constraints of only coupled modes. It is indicated from the numerical results that the shaft weight, the unbalance response, and the transmission error response via the multilevel technique (ML) are all reduced much more than those via the weighting method (WM) and the goal programming method (GPM).


Author(s):  
Lawrence N. Virgin ◽  
Josiah D. Knight ◽  
Raymond H. Plaut

The prediction of critical speeds of a rotating shaft is a crucial issue in a variety of industrial applications ranging from turbomachinery to disk storage systems. The modeling and analysis of rotordynamic systems is subject to a number of complications, but perhaps the most important characteristic is to pass through a critical speed under spin-up conditions. This is associated with classical resonance phenomena and high amplitudes, and is often a highly undesirable situation. However, given uncertainties in the modeling of such systems, it can be very difficult to predict critical speeds based on purely theoretical considerations. Thus, it is clearly useful to gain knowledge of the critical speeds of rotordynamic systems under in situ conditions. The present study describes a relatively simple method to predict the first critical speed using data from low rotational speeds. The method is shown to work well for two standard rotordynamic models, and with data from experiments conducted during this study.


Author(s):  
T. N. Shiau ◽  
E. K. Lee ◽  
T. H. Young ◽  
W. C. Hsu

This paper investigates the dynamic behaviors of a geared rotor-bearing system mounted on viscoelastic supports under considerations of the gear eccentricity, excitation of the gear’s transmission error and the residual shaft bow. The finite element method is used to model the system and Lagrangian approach is applied to derive the system equations of motion. The coupling effect of lateral and torsional motions is considered in the system dynamic analysis. The investigated dynamic characteristics include system natural frequencies and steady-state response. The results show that the mass, the stiffness and the loss factor of the viscoelastic support will significantly affect system critical speeds and steady-state response. Larger loss factor and more rigid stiffness of the viscoelastic supports will suppress the systematic amplitude of resonance. Parameters, which include magnitude of the residual bow and phase angle, are also considered in the investigation of their effects on system critical speeds and steady-state response. Results show that they have tremendous influence on first critical speed when the geared system mounted on stiff viscoelastic supports. The transmission error of the gear mesh is assumed to be sinusoidal with tooth passing frequency and it will induce multiple low resonant frequencies in the system response. It is observed that the excited critical speed equals to the original critical speed divided by gear tooth number.


Author(s):  
Timothy Dimond ◽  
Jawad Chaudhry ◽  
Matthew Wagner ◽  
Feng He ◽  
Jianming Cao ◽  
...  

There are many published works on rotordynamics which detail the types of analyses that are carried out: critical speeds, stability assessment, and forced response. The purpose of this paper is to present a more complete analysis of an existing, academic rotor/bearing model, taken from a textbook, more like it would be carried out in an industrial setting. The advantage is that all parameters of the rotor model are well known so that there are minimal uncertainties. However, some published papers on rotordynamics, as discussed in this work, present an incomplete analysis. For example, they may report the calculated critical speeds but leave out the critical speed plot and mode shapes in favor of the Campbell diagram. They may model a Bernoulli Euler beam model of the shaft and neglect the additional terms in the Timoshenko beam model. These papers may show some unbalance response plots for one disk in the model but not report on the amplification factor. This paper gives a much more complete rotordynamics analysis of this common rotor/bearing model than other works. The full undamped rotor analysis is presented, including critical speeds, critical speed map, and undamped mode shapes. The stability analysis presents the full set of eigenvalues including both forward and backward modes as well as the complex mode shapes. The differences between the Bernoulli Euler beam model and the full Timoshenko beam model are shown for this rotor. Full unbalance response plots, in the horizontal and vertical directions, are presented as well as the response along the semi-major axis. The unbalance response plots have calculated amplitudes, phase angles and amplification factors. In addition to the standard rotordynamic analyses, a synchronously reduced modal truncation method is presented. This method is better suited to automation, when compared to most truncation methods that require significant intervention by the analyst. The maximum error was on the order of 0.01%. It is hoped that future publications will present the more complete analysis shown for this rotor/bearing system.


1984 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. D. Kwon ◽  
D. C. Prevorsek

Abstract Radial tires for automobiles were subjected to high speed rolling under load on a testing wheel to determine the critical speeds at which standing waves started to form. Tires of different makes had significantly different critical speeds. The damping coefficient and mass per unit length of the tire wall were measured and a correlation between these properties and the observed critical speed of standing wave formation was sought through use of a circular membrane model. As expected from the model, desirably high critical speed calls for a high damping coefficient and a low mass per unit length of the tire wall. The damping coefficient is particularly important. Surprisingly, those tire walls that were reinforced with steel cord had higher damping coefficients than did those reinforced with polymeric cord. Although the individual steel filaments are elastic, the interfilament friction is higher in the steel cords than in the polymeric cords. A steel-reinforced tire wall also has a higher density per unit length. The damping coefficient is directly related to the mechanical loss in cyclic deformation and, hence, to the rolling resistance of a tire. The study shows that, in principle, it is more difficult to design a tire that is both fuel-efficient and free from standing waves when steel cord is used than when polymeric cords are used.


Author(s):  
Rebekah J. Nixon ◽  
Sascha H. Kranen ◽  
Anni Vanhatalo ◽  
Andrew M. Jones

AbstractThe metabolic boundary separating the heavy-intensity and severe-intensity exercise domains is of scientific and practical interest but there is controversy concerning whether the maximal lactate steady state (MLSS) or critical power (synonymous with critical speed, CS) better represents this boundary. We measured the running speeds at MLSS and CS and investigated their ability to discriminate speeds at which $$\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{2}$$ V ˙ O 2 was stable over time from speeds at which a steady-state $$\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{2}$$ V ˙ O 2 could not be established. Ten well-trained male distance runners completed 9–12 constant-speed treadmill tests, including 3–5 runs of up to 30-min duration for the assessment of MLSS and at least 4 runs performed to the limit of tolerance for assessment of CS. The running speeds at CS and MLSS were significantly different (16.4 ± 1.3 vs. 15.2 ± 0.9 km/h, respectively; P < 0.001). Blood lactate concentration was higher and increased with time at a speed 0.5 km/h higher than MLSS compared to MLSS (P < 0.01); however, pulmonary $$\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{2}$$ V ˙ O 2 did not change significantly between 10 and 30 min at either MLSS or MLSS + 0.5 km/h. In contrast, $$\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{2}$$ V ˙ O 2 increased significantly over time and reached $$\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{2\,\,\max }$$ V ˙ O 2 max at end-exercise at a speed ~ 0.4 km/h above CS (P < 0.05) but remained stable at a speed ~ 0.5 km/h below CS. The stability of $$\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{2}$$ V ˙ O 2 at a speed exceeding MLSS suggests that MLSS underestimates the maximal metabolic steady state. These results indicate that CS more closely represents the maximal metabolic steady state when the latter is appropriately defined according to the ability to stabilise pulmonary $$\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{2}$$ V ˙ O 2 .


1976 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Cole

Critical speeds for the onset of Taylor vortices and for the later development of wavy vortices have been determined from torque measurements and visual observations on concentric cylinders of radius ratios R1/R2 = 0·894–0·954 for a range of values of the clearance c and length L: c/R1 = 0·0478–0·119 and L/c = 1–107. Effectively zero variation of the Taylor critical speed with annulus length was observed. The speed at the onset of wavy vortices was found to increase considerably as the annulus length was reduced and theoretical predictions are realistic only for L/c values exceeding say 40. The results were similar for all four clearance ratios examined. Preliminary measurements on eccentrically positioned cylinders with c/R1 = 0·119 showed corresponding effects.


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