Chaotic motions of a rigid rotor in short journal bearings

In the present paper the conditions that give rise to chaotic motions in a rigid rotor on short journal bearings are investigated and determined. A suitable symmetry was given to the rotor, to the supporting system, to the acting system of forces and to the system of initial conditions, in order to restrict the motions of the rotor to translatory whirl. For an assigned distance between the supports, the ratio between the transverse and the polar mass moments of the rotor was selected conveniently small, with the aim of avoiding conical instability. Since the theoretical analysis of a system's chaotic motions can only be carried out by means of numerical investigation, the procedure here adopted by the authors consists of numerical integration of the rotor's equations of motion, with trial and error regarding the three parameters that characterise the theoretical model of the system: m, the half non-dimensional mass of the rotor, , the modified Sommerfeld number relating to the lubricated bearings, and , the dimensionless value of rotor unbalance. In the rotor's equations of motion, the forces due to the lubricating film are written under the assumption of isothermal and laminar flow in short bearings. The number of numerical trials needed to find the system's chaotic responses has been greatly reduced by recognition of the fact that chaotic motions become possible when the value of the dimensionless static eccentricity % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbnL2yY9% 2CVzgDGmvyUnhitvMCPzgarmWu51MyVXgaruWqVvNCPvMCG4uz3bqe% fqvATv2CG4uz3bIuV1wyUbqee0evGueE0jxyaibaieYlf9irVeeu0d% Xdh9vqqj-hEeeu0xXdbba9frFf0-OqFfea0dXdd9vqaq-JfrVkFHe9% pgea0dXdar-Jb9hs0dXdbPYxe9vr0-vr0-vqpWqaaeaabiGaciaaca% qabeaadaabauaaaOqaaiabew7aLnaaBaaaleaacaWGZbaabeaaaaa!4046!\[\varepsilon _s \] is greater than 0.4. In these conditions, non-periodic motions can be obtained even when rotor unbalance values are not particularly high (=0.05), whereas higher values (>0.4) make the rotor motion periodic and synchronous with the driving rotation. The present investigation has also identified the route that leads an assigned rotor to chaos when its angular speed is varied with prefixed values of the dimensionless unbalance . The theoretical results obtained have then been compared with experimental data. Both the theoretical and the experimental data have pointed out that in the circumstances investigated chaotic motions deserve more attention, from a technical point of view, than is normally ascribed to behaviours of this sort. This is mainly because such behaviours are usually considered of scarce practical significance owing to the typically bounded nature of chaotic evolution. The present analysis has shown that when the rotor exhibits chaotic motions, the centres of the journals describe orbits that alternate between small and large in an unpredictable and disordered manner. In these conditions the thickness of the lubricating film can assume values that are extremely low and such as to compromise the efficiency of the bearings, whereas the rotor is affected by inertia forces that are so high as to determine severe vibrations of the supports.Nomenclature C radial clearance of bearing (m) - D diameter of bearing (m) - e dimensional eccentricity of journal (m) - e _s value of e corresponding to the static position of the journal - E dimensional static unbalance of rotor (m) - f _x, f _y =F _x/(P), F _y/(P): non-dimensional components of fluid film force - F _x, F _y dimensional components of fluid film force (N) - g acceleration of gravity (m/s²) - L axial length of bearing (m) - m % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbnL2yY9% 2CVzgDGmvyUnhitvMCPzgarmWu51MyVXgaruWqVvNCPvMCG4uz3bqe% fqvATv2CG4uz3bIuV1wyUbqee0evGueE0jxyaibaieYlf9irVeeu0d% Xdh9vqqj-hEeeu0xXdbba9frFf0-OqFfea0dXdd9vqaq-JfrVkFHe9% pgea0dXdar-Jb9hs0dXdbPYxe9vr0-vr0-vqpWqaaeaabiGaciaaca% qabeaadaabauaaaOqaaiabg2da9maalaaabaGaeqyYdC3aaWbaaSqa% beaacaaIYaaaaaGcbaGaeqyYdC3aa0baaSqaaGabciaa-bdaaeaaca% WFYaaaaaaakiabg2da9maalaaabaGaeqyYdC3aaWbaaSqabeaacaaI% YaaaaOGaam4qaaqaaiabeo8aZjaadEgaaaaaaa!4C14!\[ = \frac{{\omega ^2 }}{{\omega _0^2 }} = \frac{{\omega ^2 C}}{{\sigma g}}\]: half non-dimensional mass of rotor - M half mass of rotor (kg) - n angular speed of rotor (in r.p.m.=60/2) - t time     

Dynamics of a Rigid Unbalanced Rotor with Nonlinear Elastic Restoring Forces. Part I: Theoretical Analysis

In a previous paper, the dynamic behaviour of a Jeffcott rotor was studied in the presence of pure static unbalance and nonlinear elastic restoring forces. The present paper extends the analysis to a rigid rotor with an axial length such as to make the transverse moment of inertia greater than the axial one. As in the previous investigation, the elastic restoring forces are assumed to be nonlinear and the effects of couple unbalance are also included but, unlike the Jeffcott rotor, the system exhibits six degrees-of-freedom. The Lagrangian coordinates were fixed so as to coincide with the three coordinates of the centre of mass of the rotor and the three angular coordinates needed in order to express the rotor's rotations with respect to a reference frame having its origin in the centre of mass. The precession motions of such a rotor turn out to be cylindrical at low angular speeds and exhibit a conical aspect when operating at higher speeds. The motion equations of the rotor were written with reference to a system that was subsequently adopted for the experimental analysis. The particular feature of this system was the use of a steel wire (piano wire) for the rotor shaft, suitably constrained and with the possibility of regulating the tension of the wire itself, in order to increase or reduce the nonlinear character of the system. The numerical analysis performed with integration of the motion equations made it possible to point out that chaotic solutions were manifested only when the tension in the wire was given the lowest values – i.e. when the system was strongly nonlinear – in the presence of considerable damping and rotor unbalance values that were so high as to lose any practical significance. Under conditions commonly shared by analogous real systems characterised by poor damping, where the contribution to nonlinearity is almost entirely due to elastic restoring forces, the analysis pointed out that precession motions may be manifested with a periodic character, whether synchronous or not, or a quasi-periodic character, but in no case is the solution chaotic.     

Nonlinear Dynamics of a Rigid Unbalanced Rotor in Journal Bearings. Part I: Theoretical Analysis

The dynamic behaviour of a rigid rotor supported on plain journal bearings was studied, focusing particular attention on its nonlinear aspects. Under the hypothesis that the motion of the rotor mass center is plane, the rotor has five Lagrangian co-ordinates which are represented by the co-ordinates of the mass center and the three angular co-ordinates needed to express the rotor's rotation with respect to its center of mass. In such conditions, the system is characterised not only by the nonlinearity of the bearings but also by the nonlinearity due to the trigonometric functions of the three assigned angular co-ordinates. However, if two angular co-ordinates have values that are generally quite small because of the small radial clearances in the bearings, the system is de facto linear in these angular co-ordinates. Moreover, if the third angular co-ordinate is assumed to be cyclic [18], the number of degrees of freedom in the system is reduced to four and nonlinearity depends solely on the presence of the journal bearings, whose reactions were predicted with the -film, short bearing model. After writing the equations of motion in this way and determining a numerical routine for a Runge–Kutta integration the most significant aspects of the dynamics of a symmetrical rotor were studied, in the presence of either pure static or pure couple unbalance and also when both types of unbalance were present. Two categories of rotors, whose motion is prevailingly a cylindrical whirl or a conical whirl, were put under investigation.     

Dynamics of a Rigid Unbalanced Rotor with Nonlinear Elastic Restoring Forces. Part II: Experimental Analysis

In Part I, theoretical analysis of the dynamic behaviour of a rigid rotor with nonlinear elastic restoring forces was carried out. In this part (Part II), an experimental confirmation of the theoretical data from that analysis was sought. With this aim, an experimental model was set up consisting mainly of a practically rigid rotor clamped onto a small diameter piano wire symmetrical to the wire supports. These supports were rigid and equipped with roller bearings and a device that made it possible to adjust the initial tension in the wire so as to make the elastic restoring forces less or more linear. The rotor was dynamically unbalanced and was driven by an asynchronous motor regulated by means of an inverter in order to adjust the rotor speed. A series of tests was performed on this rig with different values of the initial tension in the wire, and the trajectories of two points on the rotor axis were recorded in the course of the tests. These trajectories were obtained, under the hypothesis of similarity, from the orbits covered by two given sections of the wire and detected with two pairs of capacitive transducers. The collected data was compared with the theoretical results from Part I of the present investigation. Comparison of the collected data with the corresponding theoretical results made it possible to infer that system nonlinearity in the presence of small damping can give rise to motions that are periodic, whether synchronous or not, or quasi-periodic, but never chaotic.     

Nonlinear Dynamics of a Rigid Unbalanced Rotor in Journal Bearings. Part II: Experimental Analysis

In the first part of the present investigation [9], the dynamic behaviour of a rigid rotor supported on plain journal bearings was studied, focusing particular attention on its nonlinear aspects. In the present paper an experimental confirmation of the theoretical results is sought. The steel rotor of the experimental rig was given a constant circular cross section in order to fix in an easy way the two distances between supports corresponding, respectively, to the values of the parameter assigned in [9]. Two steel rings, each one with a series of holes and a clamping screw, were mounted onto the rotor with a small clearance. This arrangement made it possible to fix the positions of the rings and their holes respect to the rotor, so as to realize a pre-estabilished unbalance. The two bronze journal bearings were characterised by a relatively low length/diameter ratio, and a relatively high value of the radial clearance and were lubricated with oil delivered from a thermostatic tank. In this way, despite the relative lightness of the rotor, the dimensionless static eccentricity _s was given the high values that were apt to realize the operating conditions assumed in the theoretical analysis. The rotor was driven by means of a d.c. motor connected to a toothed belt-drive. Varying the rotor speed in the range 1000 ÷ 10000 r.p.m., made it possible to assign the values of the modified Sommerfeld number assumed in the theoretical analysis. Three pairs of eddy-current probes were mounted in order to detect the trajectories of three points (C₁, C and C₂) suitably fixed along the rotor axis. These orbits were finally put in comparison with the corresponding ones previously obtained through numerical analysis. The comparison pointed out that the experimental data were in good agreement with the theoretical predictions, despite the approximations that characterise the theoretical model and the unavoidable errors affecting measures in the course of the experimental test.     

Non-periodic motions of a Jeffcott rotor with non-linear elastic restoring forces

The conditions that give rise to non-periodic motions of a Jeffcott rotor in the presence of non-linear elastic restoring forces are examined. It is well known that non-periodic behaviours that characterise the dynamics of a rotor are fundamentally a consequence of two aspects: the non-linearity of the hydrodynamic forces in the lubricated bearings of the supports and the non-linearity that affects the elastic restoring forces in the shaft of the rotor. In the present research the analysis was restricted to the influence of the non-linearity that characterises the elastic restoring forces in the shaft, adopting a system that was selected the simplest as possible. This system was represented by a Jeffcott rotor with a shaft of mass that was negligible respect to the one of the disk, and supported with ball bearings. In order to check in a straightforward manner the non-linearity of the system and to confirm the results obtained through theoretical analysis, an investigation was carried out using an experimental model consisting of a rotating disk fitted in the middle of a piano wire pulled taut at its ends but leaving the tension adjustable. The adopted length/diameter ratio was high enough to assume the wire itself was perfectly flexible while its mass was negligible compared to that of the disk. Under such hypotheses the motion of the disk centre can be expressed by means of two ordinary, non-linear and coupled differential equations. The conditions that make the above motion non-periodic or chaotic were found through numerical integration of the equations of motion. A number of numerical trials were carried out using a 4th order Runge-Kutta routine with adaptive stepsize control. This procedure made it possible to plot the trajectories of the disk centre and the phase diagrams of the component motions, taken along two orthogonal coordinate axes, with their projections of the Poincaré sections. On the basis of the theoretical results obtained, the conditions that give rise to non-periodic motions of the experimental rotor were identified.