380

Theory of Vibration

2.9 Critical Speed of Rotating Shafts

Rotating shafts tend to bow out at certain speeds and whirl in a complicated
manner. Whirling is dened as the rotation of the plane made by the bent
shaft and the line of centers of the bearings. The phenomenon results from
such various causes as mass unbalance, hysteresis damping in the shaft,
gyroscopic forces, and uid friction in bearings. Figure 2.36a shows a shaft
with a wheel of mass m. The center of mass, G, of the wheel is at the distance
e (eccentricity) from the center of the wheel, A. The shaft rotates with a
constant (angular) speed O p const. The centrifugal force is Fc mep 2
and acts at the center of mass, G. By projecting the centrifugal force on the
horizontal (Ox) and the vertical axis (Oy) (radial and tangential directions,
Fig. 2.36b), the following relations are obtained:

FcH mep 2 cos pt
2:228
FcV mep 2 sin pt :

Vibration

Figure 2.36
Shaft with a
wheel: (a) shaft
with a wheel of
mass m; (b)
mechanical
model.

This perturbation periodic forces generate transversal vibrations in two

planes. The shaft is loaded with a bending moment. If the circular frequency
of transversal vibration (bending) is equal to the rotation angular speed, then
the resonance will take place. In this case rotation angular speed is called
critical angular speed Ocr , and the critical rpm is ncr , given by
ncr

30
O :
p cr

2:229

381

2. Linear Systems with One Degree of Freedom

Since the shaft has distributed mass and elasticity along its length, the system
has more than one degree of freedom. One can assume that the mass of the
shaft is negligible and its lateral stiffness is k. In this case the natural
frequency is
r r
k
g
;
2:230

o
m
fst
where fst is the static deection.
The center line of the support bearings intersects the plane of the wheel
at O, (Fig. 2.37a), and the shaft center is deected with r OA. The lateral
view of a general position of the rotating wheel of mass m is shown in Fig.
2.37b. A particular case is shown in Fig. 2.37b: OA and AG are in extension.
The elastic force and the centrifugal force are in relative equilibrium,
kr mr ep 2 mrp 2 mep 2 ;

2:31

Figure 2.37
(a) Shaft with a
wheel in
rotational
motion;
(b) Lateral view
of a general
position of the
rotating wheel.

r e

 p 2

p
o
e
 p 2 :
k
1
p2
o
m

2:232

This equation is plotted in Fig. 2.38. From this gure one can observe that
there are two domains. One is undercritical p < o when r > 0 and the
point G is outside of segment OA. The other one is overcritical p > o when
r < 0 and the point G is inside of segment OA. If angular speed of the shaft
increases, the point of mass G tends to point O (center line of bearings). This
phenomenon is called self-centering or self-aligning.
In the situations when the wheel is not at middle of the shaft and it is at
one extremity (Fig. 2.39) or at a distance a from the bearing (Fig. 2.40), the
gyroscopic phenomenon appears. In this case the centrifugal force P myp 2
and gyroscopic moment (moment of inertial forces) appear. To determine the
gyroscopic moment M of the wheel, consider a plane made by the deected

Vibration

and

382

Theory of Vibration

Figure 2.38
Variation
of center
deection r.

shaft and the undeected line of the shaft. The whirl o1 is dened as the
speed of rotation of this plane about the undeected line of the shaft.
Resolving o1 into components perpendicular and parallel to the face of the
wheel, one can obtain o1 sin y and o1 cos y, as shown in Fig. 2.39:


Jz Jx o1
cos y o  o1 :
M Jz 1
Jz o

2:233

Figure 2.39

Vibration

Shaft with a
wheel at one
extremity: (a)
shaft with a
wheel at one
extremity; (b)
mechanical
model.

Here, o1 O p; y is the deection angle of the shaft at point A with

respect to the axis of the bearings; Jz J1 and Jx Jy J2 are the moments
of inertia of the wheel; Jz is the moment of inertia of the wheel with respect
to an axis perpendicular to the wheel at the point A (polar moment of
inertia); and Jx , Jy are the moment of inertia with respect to two perpendicular diameters of the wheel in the plane (diametric moments of inertia). For
the cases shown in Figs. 2.39 and 2.40, because angle y is small one can
approximate sin y 0 and cos y 1, and the gyroscopic moment is
M J1 J2 o21 sin y cos y  J1 J2 p 2 y:

2:234

383

2. Linear Systems with One Degree of Freedom

Figure 2.40
(a) Shaft with
a wheel at
distance a from
the bearing; (b)
mechanical
model.

The gyroscopic torque has the effect of decreasing the deection at bending.
Therefore, the gyroscopic effect increases the stiffness of the shaft. In the
case when the rotation speed of the wheel and the rotation speed of the
elastic line of the shaft are different, the gyroscopic torque is changed. If O0 is
the angular rotation speed of the plane that contain the elastic line of the
shaft, then
2:235

If the speed of this plane is opposite to the angular speed of the shaft, the
gyroscopic torque will change the sign. The deection of bending increase
and the critical rpm is low.
The elasticity of the supports of the shaft is another cause that produces
modications to the the critical rpm. If kA and kB (Fig. 2.41) are the elastic
constants of the supports and ki is the elastic constant of the shaft, the
equivalent constant for the supports is
a2 b 2

1
k
kA
B
;
kr a b2

2:236

and the equivalent constant for the supports and shaft is

1 21 1

:
k kr k i

Figure 2.41
Elasticity of the
supports of the
shaft.

2:237

Vibration

M J1 pO0 J2 p 2 y:

384

Theory of Vibration

The natural frequency of the system, o, is different from the circular

frequency, o0 , for the case of rigid supports:
r
r
k
ki
:
; o0
o
m
m
The ratio of the two circular frequencies is
s v
u 1
o
k
u
:
u

o0
ki t k i
1
kr

2:238

If one can consider the weight of the wheel, the moment of the force is
M0 mge sin pt ;

2:239

The angular acceleration is

e

M0 mge sin pt
:

J0
J0

2:240

Because of this angular acceleration, the tangential force of inertia is (Fig.

2.42b)
Ft mee

m 2 ge 2
sin pt :
J0

2:241

Figure 2.42

Vibration

Tangential force
of inertia: (a)
weight of the
wheel; (b)
tangential force
of inertia.

The two components are

FtH Ft cos pt
FtV

m 2 ge 2
m 2 ge 2
sin pt cos pt
sin 2pt
J0
2J0

m 2 ge 2 2
m 2 ge 2
Ft sin pt
sin pt
1 cos 2pt :
J0
2J0

2:242

This perturbation force with circular frequency 2p presents the danger of

resonance for the case o 2p ) p o=2.

387

3. Linear Systems with Finite Numbers of Degrees of Freedom

Table 3.1
Mechanical model

Elastic constants

3EI a b
;
a2 b 2

3EI a b3
;
a3 b 3

3EI
;
l3

12EI a b3
;
a 3 b 2 3a 4b

12EI a c3
form1 ;
a 3 c 3 4a 3c

k1

3EI a c
form1 ;
a2c 2

k2

k2

3EI
form2 ;
b3

3EI
form2 :
b3

Vibration

k1

Figure 3.3
Physical model
for Example 3.1.