Location dependence of breathing mechanism for a slant crack in a shaft

Abstract

AbstractPeriodic stresses are always imposed on a rotor, and thus, a crack due to fatigue is unavoidable. Machinery must be properly diagnosed to avoid tragic accidents. Vibration detection is the most important tool for such a diagnosis system. It is important to know the vibration characteristics of a cracked rotor in order to develop a monitoring system which can detect a crack in an early stage of propagation. In this study, to explore the crack breathing mechanism, a three‐dimensional finite element model is simulated by using a commercial analysis solver—Abaqus/Standard. A two‐disc rotor system with a slant crack is used under the coupling effect of rotor weight and unbalance force. Unlike crack breathing under rotor weight‐only, a crack opens and closes differently under the effects of unbalance forces. Crack breathing depends on its location along the length of the shaft and individual parameters of the rotor system. A few crack locations are recognised along shaft length where the crack may stay fully closed or open during shaft rotation under certain loading circumstances. These locations also split the shaft into different areas based on the orientation of the unbalance force, crack size and location, where shaft stiffness may be higher or lower. Presented findings indicate that predicting the dynamic response of cracked rotors can be anticipated much accurately. Therefore, the impacts of unbalance forces and individual rotor physical characteristics on crack breathing must be taking into consideration.