Using Guided Balls to Auto-Balance Rotors

Abstract

By using balancing balls constrained to move in a circular groove filled with oil, the vibration of rotating machinery can, under certain circumstances, be reduced. This paper shows that the damping from the oil reduces the instability region, i.e., the conditions when the balancing balls don’t find their equilibrium positions. However, the instability region seems to increase with increasing number of balancing balls. The critical ball damping ratio is highest just above the natural frequency and then rapidly decreases. Consequently, since the region between instability and critical damping is quite small, the ball damping should be made as small as possible without getting too close to the instability threshold. Bearing damping has a large effect on the instability region. High bearing damping will suppress the instability. The time it takes to reach the asymptotically stable position seems to increase with increasing number of balls. Keeping this time low is one of the most important things when designing a balancing ring.