Abstract
The breathing mechanism of a transversely cracked shaft and its influence on a rotor system that appears due to shaft weight and inertia forces is studied. The presence of a crack reduces the stiffness of the rotor system and introduces a stiffness variation during the revolution of the shaft. Here, 3D finite element (FE) model and multibody simulation (MBS) are introduced to predict and to analyse the breathing mechanism on a transverse cracked shaft. It is based on a cohesive zone model (CZM) instead of linear-elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM). First, the elastic cracked shaft is modelled by 3D FE. As a second step, the 3D FE model of the shaft is transferred into an MBS model in order to analyze the dynamic loads, due to the crack, and the inertia force acting during rotation at different rotating speeds. Finally, the vibration responses in the centroid of the shaft obtained from MBS have been exported into FE model in order to observe the breathing mechanism. A bilinear crack closure model is proposed. The accuracy of the bilinear crack closure model and the solution techniques have been demonstrated by a comparison with the corresponding results of previous publications.
Highlights
Fatigue cracking of rotor shafts has long been identified as a limiting factor for safe and reliable operation of turbomachines
The 3D finite element (FE) model of the shaft is transferred into an multibody simulation (MBS) model in order to analyze the dynamic loads, due to the crack, and the inertia force acting during rotation at different rotating speeds
This paper introduces a method based on a 3D FE model and MBS in order to study the breathing mechanism of an elastic cracked shaft
Summary
Fatigue cracking of rotor shafts has long been identified as a limiting factor for safe and reliable operation of turbomachines. A crack in the rotor causes local changes in stiffness. These changes, in turn, affect the dynamics of the system: frequency of the natural vibrations and the amplitudes of forced vibrations are changed. If a cracked shaft rotates under external loading, the crack opens and closes regularly during the revolution of the shaft; it breathes. The breathing mechanism is produced by the stress distribution around the crack mainly due to the action of bending moment, while the effect of torsion is negligible. Shaft cracks breathe when crack sizes are small, running speeds are low, and radial forces are large [1]
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