Vibration Analysis of Statically Indeterminate Rotors With Hydrodynamic Bearings

Abstract

In statically indeterminate rotor bearings systems, where the rotor is supported by one or more hydrodynamic bearings, the reactions at each hydrodynamic bearing, and hence its stiffness and damping properties depend not only on the bearing type, the operating conditions and the bearing dimensions but also on the relative lateral alignment between the journal and the bearing housing; the alignment, therefore, has a significant influence on the system stability and unbalance response. Additional complications arise if nonsymmetric bearing types such as elliptic or tilting pad bearings are present. An iterative procedure is outlined which enables the bearing reactions to be determined at any speed, thereby enabling even large systems such as turbomachinery to be rapidly analyzed in conjunction with existing linear rotor bearing vibration analysis software. Sample numerical examples show how misalignment and bearing type can affect the natural frequencies, the stability threshold, and the unbalance response of such statically indeterminate systems.