Experimental Fitting of Rotor Models by Using a Special Three-Node Beam Element

Abstract

In this paper, a special type of beam element is developed with three nodes and with only translational degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) at each node. This element can be used effectively to build low degree-of-freedom models of rotors. The initial model from the Bernoulli theory is fitted to experimental results by nonlinear optimization. This way, we can avoid the complex modeling of contact problems between the parts of squirrel cage rotors. The procedure is demonstrated on the modeling of a machine tool spindle.