Bifurcation and chaotic response of a cracked rotor system with viscoelastic supports

Cracks appearing in the shaft of a rotary system are one of the main causes of accidents for large rotary machine systems. This research focuses on investigating the bifurcation and chaotic behavior of a rotating system with considerations of various crack depth and rotating speed of the system’s shaft. An equivalent linear-spring model is utilized to describe the cracks on the shaft. The breathing of the cracks due to the rotation of the shaft is represented with a series truncated time-varying cosine series. The geometric nonlinearity of the shaft, the masses of the shaft and a disc mounted on the shaft, and the viscoelasticity of the supports are taken into account in modeling the nonlinear dynamic rotor system. Numerical simulations are performed to study the bifurcation and chaos of the system. Effects of the shaft’s rotational speed, various crack depths and viscosity coefficients on the nonlinear dynamic properties of the system are investigated in detail. The system shows the existence of rich bifurcation and chaos characteristics with various system parameters. The results of this research may provide guidance for rotary machine design, machining on rotary machines, and monitoring or diagnosing of rotor system cracks.