Vibration characteristics of a bolted joint rotor-bearing system with rubbing and pedestal looseness coupled fault: Simulation and experiment

Abstract

Rotor-stator rub and pedestal looseness are common faults in rotating machinery, such as large gas turbines that typically use bolted joint structures to fasten adjacent disks together. It is of great significance to investigate the vibration behaviors of the bolted joint rotor-bearing system with pedestal looseness and rubbing coupled fault, which can provide proofs for the fault diagnosis. In the present work, a dynamic model of the bolted joint rotor-bearing system with coupled fault is developed by using the finite element (FE) method, and then the vibration characteristic analysis is carried out. The rotor shafts that connected by the bolted joint element (BJE) are discretized as two sets of Timoshenko beam elements. The BJE is composed with four springs (two linear translational springs and two rotational springs with piecewise-linear stiffness). The interactions of rotor-stator contact are then modeled based on the Hertz contact theory and Coulomb's friction law, and the bearing forces are also calculated based on the Hertz contact theory. Moreover, the pedestal looseness fault is modeled through the piecewise-linear stiffness spring. The equations of motions of the bolted joint rotor-bearing system with coupled fault are then developed through FE theory and solved by the Newmark method. The dynamic responses are then calculated, and the frequency spectrums, bending stiffness of bolted joint, and vibration responses under different rotation speeds under the coupled fault are analyzed. The experimental study is finally conducted based on a bolted joint rotor test rig. Simulation results are in agreement with experiment results. The research results can provide a basis for understanding the rotor dynamic features of a bolted joint rotor system with coupled faults of rubbing and pedestal looseness.