Detection of a slant crack in a rotor bearing system during shut-down

Abstract

The transient response of a slant-cracked rotor system during shut-down has been analyzed while it is decelerating through the critical speed. Vibration response has been simulated by using finite element method (FEM) for flexural vibrations. An unbalance force and a harmonically-varying torque is applied on the rotor system. Subharmonic frequency components at an interval frequency corresponding to torsional frequency were found in the frequency domain (Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) plot). These peaks are centered on the critical speed of the rotor system when a slant crack is present and can be used to detect the crack. The fundamental mode shapes of the rotor bearing systems are wavelet transformed to identify the crack location. A peak is observed at the crack location in the spatial variation of the wavelet-transformed fundamental mode shape. A few suggestions for the detection of slant cracks in the rotor during shut-down are described.