Balancing flexible rotors.

A rotor is considered to be flexible if it runs higher than 80% of its first

critical speed.
To see the affect of the rotor running close to the first critical let us consider
a rotor which has been low speed balanced in a balancing rig.
Unbalance

Balance wts
As can be seen the rotor has been balanced using the end balance planes.
This rotor is statically balanced and has no couple imbalance.
However when the rotor is run to operating speeds above 80% of the 1st
critical the rotor begins to bend into the skipping rope shape characteristic
of 1st mode. When this happens the unbalance mass is at a greater radius
than the balance weights and so the rotor is now unbalanced at the 1st
critical.

Note also that the mode shape emphasises the static imbalance and 1st
mode vibration will be predominantly in phase.

In a similar manner if the rotor runs close to the 2nd critical then the couple
imbalance masses will be at a greater distance from the rotation centre
than the balance weights added at the end planes. The rotor will therefore
be unbalanced at 2nd critical. \
Note also that the centre of the rotor in this mode has no displacement and
therefore will not be affected by the static imbalance.
This mode is dominated by the couple imbalance and will have little static
imbalance indication. I.e. the vibration vectors will be 180 out of phase.
Because the 2nd critical is at a much higher speed, the force and therefore
the vibration will be much higher for the same degree of residual
imbalance.
The mode shape for each critical speed has a significant influence on the
effect of balance weights.
It is possible for a rotor which is balanced in a rig to require balancing to
enable it to run through the critical speeds. This happens if the degree of
residual imbalance and/or the damping factor is such that the vibration is
too high to safely run through a critical speed.
In many cases on larger machines the rotor may be too large to be low
speed balanced and therefore must be balanced entirely insitu.
Whatever the case, the rotor will have to be balanced at a speed below the
critical to enable it to run through the critical safely.
As the phase changes rapidly with only small variations in speed near the
critical it is important that the balance speed selected must be:-

 Repeatable
At a speed where the phase is stable.
The vibration is low enough that the machine is safe to run at that
speed for several minutes.
The balance speed is best selected using a Bod plot (phase and
amplitude verses speed.)

Figure 1. Bode Plot of a run up.

The above Bode plot is of a rotor with a 1st critical at 850 RPM. Note the
rapid phase change above 700 RPM. If it was required to balance this rotor
to enable it to run through the critical a speed of 600 RPM would give a
stable repeatable phase.
The procedure to balance a flexible rotor to allow it to run to full operating
speed is called modal balancing.
Each mode of the rotor is balanced separately.

To balance to allow the rotor to safely run through 1st critical the static
component is separated from the vibration data and balanced by adding in
phase weight to each end of the rotor.
To balance close to or above 2nd critical the couple component is extracted
and the rotor balanced by adding weights 180 out of phase.
Lets look at an example.
A rotor running just above the 2nd critical has the following vibration at 1X
BRG
Brg7
Brg8

1x
21.65
29.3

Phase
175
345

If we split the static and couple components out, we get:4.4

25.4
25.4

320.
169.
349.

Static
Couple on Brg 7
Couple on Brg 8

While there is some static imbalance present the vibration is dominated by

the couple. If we attempted to do a standard 2 plane balance on this rotor
the lack of response to the static component would result in a nonsensical
weight change.
Because the rotor is running close to the 2nd critical this mode should be
balanced out separately.
The procedure is to carry out a single plane balance using the couple data
from brg 7 and for each weight change add equal weights to each end 180
out of phase.

In this case the maximum weight which could be added to each end was
1300 grams and this weight resulted in the following final balance.
Brg7
Brg8

1x
3.07
1.06

Phase
29.9
300

Which is equivalent to
1x
1.6
1.6
1.6

Phase
11.
49.
229.

Static
Couple brg 7
Couple brg 8

For this particular rotor this balance was carried out at full speed. If the
balance was required to get through the critical speed the balance may still
have to be adjusted at operational speed condition.
Exercise 9.

The rotor above runs just above its 2nd critical has the following reference
and trial weight data.
Reference Data. March 1998
BRG
Brg7
Brg8

1x
10.4
12.5

Phase
3
160

Trial weights fitted.

Brg7

725

Grams

088.

Brg8

725

at
Grams
at

268

Final balance state.

BRG
Brg7
Brg8

1x
1.5
3.1

Phase
135
314

In June 2000 after maintenance, the balance state has changed to give
BRG
Brg7
Brg8

1x
21.65
29.3

Phase
175
345

Balance positions
accessible while
rotor is in the stator.

The balance planes have eight weight positions (see photo above) and
there is a maximum weight of 500 grams in any one position, calculate the
correction weight.
With this weight fitted the vibration drops to
BRG
Brg7
Brg8

1x
3.07
1.06

Phase
29.9
300

During service a year later (May 2001) the balance condition changes due
to mass movement and results in the following vibration.
BRG
Brg7
Brg8

1x
7.4
7.1

Phase
354
150

Based on all the balance data above calculate the optimum balance weight
change to correct this rotor.
Exercise 9.
A rotor which runs just above its 2nd critical has the following reference and
trial weight data.
Reference Data. March 1998
BRG
Brg7
Brg8

1x
10.4
12.5

Phase
3
160

Weights fitted.
Brg7

725

Brg8

725

Grams
at
Grams
at

088.
268

Final balance state.

BRG
Brg7
Brg8

1x
1.5
3.1

Phase
135
314

In June 2000 after maintenance, the balance state has changed to give
BRG
Brg7
Brg8

1x
21.65
29.3

Phase
175
345

The balance planes have eight weight positions and there is a maximum
weight of 500 grams in any one position, calculate the correction weights to
be fitted.

With these weights fitted the vibration drops to

BRG
Brg7
Brg8

1x
3.07
1.06

Phase
29.9
300

During service a year later (May 2001) the balance condition changes due
to mass movement and results in the following vibration.
BRG
Brg7
Brg8

1x
7.4
7.1

Phase
354
150

Based on all the balance data above calculate the optimum balance weight
change to correct this rotor.
Note that it requires 24 hours to do a weight change with a production loss
of $240000 per change.
Available balance weights are 500 grams, 240 grams, and 140 grams. Only
one weight can be fitted to any one position. You have as many weights as
required of each size to choose from.
The solution to this balance problem is to only balance the couple
components out at each stage (Notice the original weight fitted is an out of
phase pair)