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The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing coupling

system considering the influence of the Hirth couplings

Article in Archive of Applied Mechanics · October 2022

DOI: 10.1007/s00419-022-02247-6

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Archive of Applied Mechanics
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00419-022-02247-6

O R I G I NA L

Miao Jin · Ai-lun Wang · Qingshan Wang ·

Longkai Wang · Haibiao Zhang

The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-

blade-bearing coupling system considering the influence
of the Hirth couplings

Received: 1 December 2021 / Accepted: 25 August 2022

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022

Abstract The Hirth couplings are the basic connection structure of the central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing
(CTRRBB) coupling system for turboshaft engine. Those connecting structures tend to loosen when the
decrease of the pre-tightening forces, the looseness behaviors can reduce the local stiffness of the rotor system
and further affect its dynamic characteristics. In this paper, a novel mechanical model of the assembled stiffness
of the Hirth couplings is derived based on the force balance and deformation compatibility of each tooth; then,
the dynamic model of the CTRRBB with Hirth couplings is established based on the Timoshenko beam theory
and Galerkin method. Then, assembled stiffness method of the Hirth couplings is incorporated in the system.
The proposed model is verified by the results of the ANSYS model. Finally, the effects of the pre-tightening
forces and rotational speed on the natural frequencies, three-dimensional mode shapes of the CTRRBB with
Hirth couplings are further discussed. The results show that reduction of assembled stiffness of the Hirth
couplings at contact interface becomes significant as the decrease of the pre-tightening forces, which lead
to the decrease of the modal frequencies in the system. The analysis of the Campbell diagram indicates that
frequency veering, intersection and instability phenomena occur in the system as the decrease of the pre-
tightening forces. When the pre-tightening forces reach the 60 kN, the dynamic characteristics of the system
make no difference with the integral rotor. The proposed methodology makes an important contribution to
the further understanding of the rotor system considering the Hirth couplings connection structure in rotating
machinery.

Keywords Central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing coupling system · Hirth couplings · Central tie rod ·
Pre-tightening forces

List of symbols

L Length of the Hirth couplings

A Contact area of the Hirth couplings
z Number of teeth
F n1 , F n2 Normal forces of two contact interface
F t 1, F t 2 Frictional forces of two contact interface
M. Jin · A. Wang (B) · Q. Wang · L. Wang
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People’s Republic of China
e-mail: walwlz@csu.edu.cn
M. Jin · A. Wang · Q. Wang · L. Wang
State Key Laboratory of High Performance Complex Manufacturing, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People’s
Republic of China
H. Zhang
AECC Hunan Aviation Powerplant Research Institute, Zhuzhou 412002, People’s Republic of China
 M. Jin et al.

k ti (F ni ,F ti ),k ni (F ni ,F ti ) Tangential stiffness and normal stiffness of two contact interface

E Equivalent elastic modulus of the Hirth couplings containing the contact effect
F0 Pre-tightening forces
T Tangential forces
Js Torsional moment of the inertia of stepped shaft
Jp Polar moment of inertia of the disk
Jd Diametral moment of inertia of the disk;
E1*, E2* Elastic modulus of two contact surfaces of the Hirth couplings
M Torque moment of the Hirth couplings
μ1 , μ2 Poisson’s ratio of the two contact surfaces of the Hirth couplings
μ Coefficient of friction of the Hirth couplings
R1 , R2 Average roughness radius of the two contact surfaces of the Hirth couplings
h1 , h2 Height variation of the two contact interfaces of the Hirth couplings
k1, k2 Stiffness of the connecting parts of the Hirth couplings
mdisk Mass of disk
Nb Number of blades
A0 , A1 Cross-sectional area of the blade root and blade tip
I 0, I 1 Cross-sectional moment of inertia of the blade root and blade tip
b0 , b1 Width of the blade root and blade tip
h0 , h1 Thickness of the blade root and blade tip
Es, Eb Young’s elastic modulus of the stepped shaft and blade
k s , kb Shear correction factor of the stepped shaft and blade
u, v, w Deformation of the blade tip (point Q) in the radial, bending and swing direction
υ s, υ b Poisson’s ratio of the stepped shaft and blade
Gs , Gb Shear modulus of the stepped shaft and blade
As , Ab Sectional area of the stepped shaft and blade
Ls , Lb Length of the stepped shaft and blade
I s, I b Moment of inertia of the stepped shaft and blade
Rd , r d Outer radius and inner radius of the rigid disk
D, d Outer diameters and inner diameters of the disk
hd , ρ d Thickness and density of the disk
EH , ρ H , υ H Elastic modulus, density and Poisson’s ratio of the Hirth couplings
X disk , Y disk , Z disk Displacements of the disk
U i (t), V i (t), ψ(t) Canonical coordinates
N mod Number of the modal truncation
f c (x) Centrifugal force of the blade
f r , 2f r First-order and second-order rotational frequency
K T, K N Tangential stiffness and the normal stiffness of the Hirth couplings
Nu, Nv, Nw, Nθ x , Nθ y, Nψ Displacement interpolation functions of beam element
M blade , M shaft-rod , M c1 Mass matrices of the blade, shaft-rod, rotor-blade system, respectively
K blade , K shaft-rod , K c1 Stiffness matrices of the blade, shaft-rod, rotor-blade system, respectively
K Acc Acceleration matrix of the rotor-blade system
Gblade , Gshaft-rod , Gc1 Gyroscopic matrices of the blade, shaft-rod, rotor-blade, respectively
Fblade , Fshaft-rod Forces vector of the blade and shaft-rod system
C shaft-rod , C blade Damp matrices of the shaft-rod system and rotating blade

Greek symbols

δ Deformation of blade bending

δ total First variation
α Pressure angle of the Hirth couplings
σ Root-mean-square (RMS) of surface roughness of the Hirth couplings
β Stagger angle of blade
θ (t) Angular displacement of the rigid disk
ϕ Cross-sectional angle of the rotating blade
The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

ψ Torsional angle of disk

ρs, ρb Material density of the stepped shaft and blade
I s, I b Sectional moment of inertia of the stepped shaft and blade
A s , Ab Sectional area of the stepped shaft and blade
k s , kb Shear correction factor of the stepped shaft and blade
θ s-x , θ s-y Rotational angle of the stepped shaft around the x and y axis
ηh , ηb Taper ratios in the thickness and width directions
Ω Rotational speed
φ 1i , φ 2i , φ 3i Modal shape functions of the blade
ξ 1, ξ 2 Modal damping radios

Abbreviations

CTRRBB Central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

S-0 The conical mode of the stepped shaft in lateral direction
S-1 The first-order bending mode of stepped shaft
S-2 The second-order bending mode of stepped shaft
SD Swing of disk
ST-1 The first-order stepped shaft torsion
ST-2 The second-order stepped shaft torsion
BB The blade-blade coupling mode
BBT The coupling mode between the stepped shaft torsion and the blade bending
BBL The coupling mode between the stepped shaft bending and the blade bending
R-1 The first-order bending mode of the central tie rod
BW Backward whirling
FW Forward whirling
Rod Central tie rod
DOFs Degrees of freedom
FE Finite element
FEM Finite element model
AM Analytical model

1 Introduction

The central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing (CTRRBB) coupling system with Hirth couplings (see Fig. 1) is widely
used in turboshaft engine owing to excellent self-centering capability, strong torque transmission and reliable
positioning [1–3]. The rotor system is centered by the Hirth couplings and is pre-tightened in section by the
central tie rod [4]. Due to the special feature of the end-teeth shape and discontinuity, the Hirth couplings
can affect the dynamic performance of the rotor system significantly and may lead to extremely complicated
vibration responses. Therefore, it is vital and urgent to research the influence of the Hirth couplings on its
dynamic characteristics.
In classical rotor dynamic studies, the connection structures of the turboshaft engine mainly can be divided
into three types: (1) bolted joint connection structure, (2) the rabbet-bolted connection structure and (3) Hirth
couplings (curvic couplings) connection structure. Numerous studies have investigated a series of achievements
in the research of rotor system with bolted joint or the rabbet-bolted connection structure. As for (1) the bolted
joint structure, Yang and Ma [5] studied the coupling vibration of the shaft-disk-drum rotor system with bolted
joints connection structure and analyzed how the natural frequencies of the system varies as the axial connection
stiffness of the bolted joints. Tang et al. [6] used the sanders’ shell and the Kirchhoff plate theories to study the
rotating disk-drum coupled structure with bolted joint. Sun et al. [7] established the finite element model of the
drum-disk-shaft system with joint interface and effects of the joint stiffness, unbalance and rotational speed
on the vibration characteristics of the drum-disk-shaft system were investigated. Zhao et al. [8] analyzed the
connection interface slip mechanism of the bolted rotor system considering the preload distribution. Zou et al.
[9] established a finite element model of the disk-drum rotor with bolts connection and analyzed the influence
of the pre-tightening state change of the mating surface of the bolt connection. For (2) the rabbet-bolted
structure, Ma et al. [10] investigated an advanced aero-engines with the rabbet-bolted connection structure and
 M. Jin et al.

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the CTRRBB system containing the Hirth couplings a Hirth couplings and rotor-blade structure
b stepped shaft and central tie rod

analyzed how the contact interface of the rabbet-bolted joint affects rotor dynamics. Yu et al. [11] developed a
Jenkins element to simulate the rabbet-bolted joint, and studied the hysteresis nonlinearity of the rabbet-bolted
joint at contact interface. For (3), the Hirth couplings connection structure, which is different from bolted
joints or rabbet-bolted joint, is usually composed of the convex tooth and concave tooth. The Hirth couplings
were invented and patented by the Gleason Works in 1942 [3, 4]. The calculation of the stiffness of the Hirth
couplings is one of the key problems for structure design. Many scholars have been investigating method for
calculating the stiffness of the Hirth couplings. Yin et al. [12] used the finite element method to obtain the
coefficient of the stiffness matrix of the Hirth couplings. Jiang and Li [2] established the three-dimensional
finite element model of the rotor system with Hirth couplings, and investigated the self-loosening mechanism
of the Hirth couplings. Liu and Hong [13] simplified the Hirth couplings as the three-spring element to describe
the stiffness weakening of the connection structure. Liu et al. [14] used artificial spring method to simulate
the nonlinear stiffness of the Hirth coupling under the various loading conditions, and studied the bifurcation
characteristic and the jump phenomenon of the Hirth coupling looseness at the joint interface.
The basic requirements for the structural design are more lightweight and more heavily loaded in next-
generation advanced aero-engine [15]. The advanced aero-engine become lighter and more flexible under the
higher rotational speed. The coupling effect between the substructures is very important to the rotor system,
which may significantly alter the vibration behaviors of the system. It is necessary to accurately understand the
coupling vibration characteristics of the aero-engine system. Therefore, most of the existing works focused on
the coupling vibration analysis on the flexible rotor-blade system or flexible disk and rotor system. She et al.
[16] investigated the coupling mode and frequencies characteristics of the shaft-disk blade system considering
the shaft’s flexibility and disk’s flexibility. She et al. [17] investigated the frequency veering and merging
phenomena of the assembled blade-disk system with nonlinear contact feature. Ma et al. [18] established the
new dynamic model of the rotor-blade coupling system based on the Hamilton’s principle and Galerkin method,
and studied the effects of the blade number, rotational speed on the natural characteristics. Huangfu and Zeng
[19], respectively, used Timoshenko element and Mindlin–Reissner shell element to obtain the dynamic model
The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of the relationship between the stepped shaft and central tie rod

of the flexible helical geared rotor coupling system, and investigated the effects of the web thickness, the
rotating effects and helix angle on the dynamic responses. Zeng and Ma [20] used the improved the disk blade
interface coupling method to complete dynamic model of the fully flexible blisk-casing system, and studied the
rubbing characteristics of the coupling system. Cao et al. [21] established the dynamic model of the rotor-blade
coupling system with the nonlinear energy sink by using the finite element theory. Li et al. [22] studied the
frequency characteristics of the drum-disk-shaft rotor system by using the Sanders’ shell theory. Guo and Ma
[23] used the sander’s shell theory and plate theory to obtain the kinetic energy and potential energy of the
flexible blade-casing system. Guo and Ma [24] established a new dynamic model of the flexible shrouded
blade with elastic support by using the Timoshenko beam theory.
From the mentioned above, the coupling vibration characteristics of disk-drum coupled structure or rotor-
blade structure with bolted joint or rabbet-bolted structure for the advanced aero-engine have been studied in
depth. However, in the available studies on the rotor-blade coupling system with the Hirth couplings connection,
several disadvantages are still further improved: (1) the Hirth couplings are generally oversimplified as the
spring element or simulated by the finite element software. There are limited studies on the establishment of
the analytical model of the Hirth couplings, which is able to describe the relationship between the stiffness of
the Hirth couplings and pre-tightening forces. (2) The fully flexible rotor-blade coupling system with the Hirth
couplings is rarely established; the consideration of effects of the pre-tightening forces of the Hirth couplings on
the coupling characteristics, especially by using the semi-analytical method or numerical integration method,
is relatively few.
In order to make up the existing deficiencies, this paper aims at proposing the semi-analytical model of
the Hirth couplings and analyzes approaches to achieve the coupling vibration characteristics of the CTRRBB
coupling system with Hirth couplings. A mathematical model of the assembled stiffness of the Hirth coupling
connection considering the contact effect is deduced based on the equilibrium of pre-tightening forces. Lumped-
mass element is used to simulate the rigid disk. Beam elements are applied to establish the dynamic model
of the central tie rod, stepped shaft and rotating blade. The artificial spring elements were used to couple the
stepped shaft and central tie rod. And that the modified assembled stiffness calculation of the Hirth couplings
is incorporated into the completed modeling of the whole coupling system. The proposed dynamic model of
the coupling system is verified by the ANSYS software. Then, the effects of the pre-tightening forces and
the rotating speeds on the coupling vibration characteristics of the system are investigated. Finally, some
conclusions are made.

2 The dynamic model

The schematic diagram of the CTRRBB system containing the Hirth couplings is shown in Fig. 1. Considering
the coupling effect of the transverse and torsional deformations of the stepped shaft and central tie rod, the
shaft-rod coupling system was established by the Timoshenko beam theory. The stepped shaft is composed of
the forward shaft, the Hirth couplings and the back shaft. The physical map of the rotor-blade structure and
the Hirth couplings are shown in Fig. 1a. The adjacent disks are connected by circumferentially distributed
teeth of the Hirth couplings. The artificial spring elements (Point 1 and Point 2) are introduced to simulate the
coupling relationship between the central tie rod and stepped shaft, where the corresponding coupling relation
is shown in Fig. 2.
 M. Jin et al.

Fig. 3 A schematic diagram for the force analysis of the Hirth couplings

The disks are fixed on the stepped shaft. Based on the deformation compatibility and force balance of the
Hirth couplings, the relationship expression between the assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings and the pre-
tightening forces is deduced. And the stiffness weakening of the Hirth couplings can be effectively integrated
into the completed modeling of the whole dynamic system through the stiffness modification method. The
energy formula of the flexible blade is simulated by the cantilever beam theory, which considers the longitudinal
displacement, lateral displacement and swing displacement of the blade. Finally, the dynamic equations of the
CTRRBB system can be assembled together to form the global matrices.

2.1 The mathematical model of the Hirth couplings

For the design of the discontinuous rotor system, a further issue of the novelty in this paper is that the various pre-
tightening forces condition and the mechanical parameters (e.g., number of the teeth, roughness of the surface,
the coefficient of friction) are firstly introduced to describe the assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings.
Subsequently, the results obtained from the analytical model are verified by those from the ANSYS model.

2.1.1 The force analysis of the Hirth couplings

As shown in Fig. 3, the force states a pair of Hirth couplings under the action of pre-tightening forces F 0 and
the tangential forces T, where the T  2 M/Dn . Dn is pitch diameter, M is the torque moment of the Hirth
couplings, and α is the pressure angle. The two contact surfaces of the Hirth couplings are fully engaged under
the normal forces F n1 , F n2 and frictional forces F t1 , F t2 .
According to the force balance of the Hirth couplings, the pre-tightening forces and tangential forces of
the Hirth couplings can be further expressed as follows:

F0  Fn1 sin α + Ft1 cos α + Fn2 sin α + Ft2 cos α (1)

T  −Fn1 cos α + Ft1 sin α + Fn2 cos α − Ft2 sin α (2)

Based on finite element analysis, Shen [25] makes an exhaustive study on the interfacial contact of the
Hirth couplings connection structure. The research results show that the frictional forces of the tooth surfaces
provided by the contact interface of the Hirth couplings are relatively small, and the contact interface between
tooth surfaces will inevitably slide on local area. Besides, tangential forces generated by the Hirth couplings
are relatively small under the working condition; therefore, the friction forces of the Hirth couplings during
The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

Fig. 4 Schematic diagram of stiffness transformation of a pair of the Hirth couplings

the compression process can be expressed as F t  μF n , and substituting into Eq. (1) and Eq. (2), which can
be expressed as follows:
1 μF0 sin α + μT cos α + T sin α − F0 cos α
Fn1  (3)
2 (μ sin α − cos α)(μ cos α + sin α)
1 μF0 sin α − μT cos α − T sin α − F0 cos α
Fn2  (4)
2 (μ sin α − cos α)(μ cos α + sin α)
where μ is the coefficient of friction.

2.1.2 The contact stiffness analysis of the Hirth couplings connection structure

Considering the special contact form of the Hirth couplings, the normal contact stiffness and tangential contact
stiffness of the Hirth couplings containing the contact effect are transformed into the tangential stiffness and
normal stiffness in the vertical and horizontal direction; the specific transformation process is shown in Fig. 4,
which can be expressed as follows:
K n  [kn1 (Fn1 , Ft1 ) + kn2 (Fn2 , Ft2 )] sin α+[kt1 (Fn1 , Ft1 ) + kt2 (Fn2 , Ft2 )] cos α (5)

K t  [kn1 (Fn1 , Ft1 ) + kn2 (Fn2 , Ft2 )] cos α + [kt1 (Fn1 , Ft1 ) + kt2 (Fn2 , Ft2 )] sin α (6)
where k ti (F ni ,F ti ),k ni (F ni ,F ti )are the tangential stiffness and normal stiffness of a pair of the Hirth couplings
(i  1,2), respectively.
Then, the tangential stiffness and the normal stiffness of a pair of the Hirth couplings are extended to the
whole Hirth couplings, which can be given as follows:

z 
z
KT  [kn1 (Fn1 , Ft1 ) + kn2 (Fn2 , Ft2 )] cos α + [kt1 (Fn1 , Ft1 ) + kt2 (Fn2 , Ft2 )] sin α (7)
i1 i1
z z
KN  [kn1 (Fn1 , Ft1 ) + kn2 (Fn2 , Ft2 )] sin α + [(kt1 (Fn1 , Ft1 ) + kt2 (Fn2 , Ft2 )] cos α (8)
i1 i1

where the z is the number of teeth.

 M. Jin et al.

2.1.3 The analytical model associated with contact stiffness of the Hirth couplings based on GW model

The contact interface of the Hirth couplings containing the rough surface has an important influence on the
system. Based on the basis of the above section, the analytical model associated with contact stiffness of the
Hirth couplings containing rough surface is further established, which should simulate the relationship between
the contact stiffness of the Hirth couplings and the pre-tightening forces. According to the existing literature
[26], the GW model has a high-precision statistical model that can be used to characterize the rough surfaces
features of the Hirth couplings. Therefore, based on the GW model, the relationship between the normal load
containing the contact interface and the material properties is established as:
4 1 3 −h 1
Fn1  nE R 2 σ 2 e σ (9)
3
4 1 3 −h 2
Fn2  nE R 2 σ 2 e σ (10)
3
where
 −1
1 − μ21 1 − μ22
E + (11)
E 1∗ E 2∗
 
1 1 −1
R + (12)
R1 R2

where the E 1 * and E 2 * represent the elastic modulus of two contact surfaces of the Hirth couplings, and n
denotes the number of asperities on the rough surface. μ1 and μ2 are the Poisson’s ratio of the two contact
surfaces of the Hirth couplings, respectively. σ is the root mean square (RMS) of surface roughness. R1 and
R2 represent the average roughness radius of the two contact surfaces of the Hirth couplings, respectively. h1 ,
h2 are the height variation of the two contact interfaces of the Hirth couplings.
Then, the actual normal contact stiffness of the Hirth couplings containing the effect of the surface roughness
is expressed as follows:
d Fn1 14 1 3 −h 1 Fn1
K n1 (Fn1 , Ft1 )   nE R 2 σ 2 e σ  (13)
d(|−h 1 |) σ3 σ
d Fn2 14 1 3 −h 2 Fn2
K n2 (Fn2 , Ft2 )   nE R 2 σ 2 e σ  (14)
d(|−h 2 |) σ3 σ
Substituting Eqs. (13) and (14) into Eqs. (7) and (8), the normal contact stiffness and tangential contact
stiffness of the Hirth couplings containing the effect of contact interface can be given as follows:
    z  
Fn1 Fn2 Fn1 Fn2 F0 sin α F0 cos α
KN  + sin α+μ + cos α  +μ
σ σ σ σ zσ μ cos α + sin α zσ μ cos α + sin α
i1
(15)
    z 
 
Fn1 Fn2 Ft1 Ft2 F0 cos α F0 sin α
KT  + cos α+μ + sin α  +μ (16)
σ σ σ σ zσ μ cos α + sin α zσ μ cos α + sin α
i1

2.1.4 The equivalent stiffness of the Hirth couplings

According to literature [27], the assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings composed of the normal contact
stiffness of the Hirth couplings containing the contact interface and the stiffness of the two connecting parts
without considering the contact effect connected in series. As shown in Fig. 4, k1 and k2 are the stiffness
of the connecting parts, which just depend on the geometric parameters and material properties of the Hirth
couplings. At this time, stiffness of the two connection parts can be given as follows:
k1 k2 EA
kconnecting - parts   (17)
k1 +k2 L
where L and A are the length and contact area of the Hirth couplings.
The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

Fig. 5 Timoshenko beam element

The assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings can be expressed as follows:

1 1 1
 + (18)
kassembly K N kconnecting - parts
In order to facilitate the subsequent analysis of the vibration behaviors of whole system considering Hirth
couplings, it is necessary to make the assembled stiffness of Hirth couplings containing contact interface being
the equivalized by the elastic modulus, which can be given as follows:
E A
kassembly  (19)
L
where E  represents the equivalent elastic modulus of the Hirth couplings containing the contact effect.

2.2 The mathematical model of the shaft-rod coupling system

In order to ensure that multi-disks are fully contacted by the tooth surfaces of the Hirth couplings under the
action of the pre-tightening forces and the requirement for the lightweight design. The stepped shaft and central
tie rod are both hollow shaft structures, and the central tie rod installed inside the stepped shaft. The stepped
shaft and central tie rod are represented by the Timoshenko beam model, as depicted in Fig. 5. However, only
the torsional and bending vibration are considered, the move in axial direction is negligible. The subscripts m
and n represent nodes m and n, respectively.
The general displacement vectors of the beam element can be given as

- rod  [u m , vm , θmx , θmy , ψm , u n , vn , θnx , θny , ψn ]

e T
qshaft (20)
where the superscript e denotes an element unit of stepped shaft or central tie rod.
Therefore, the kinetic energy of the beam element can be given as:
⎡ ⎤
 Ls  Ls
1  1 2I  2
+ I θ̇ 2
+ θ̇ 2
TShaft - rod  ρs As [ u̇ 2s + v̇s2 dz + ρs ⎣ s s s−x s−y ⎦dz (21)
2 2 
0 0 + 2Is θ̇s−x θs−y − 2Is θ̇s−y θs−x + 2Is ψ 2
where the ρ s , I s , As and L s are the density, moment of inertia, the cross-sectional area and the length of beam
element. The us , vs , θ s-x , θ s-y represent the transverse displacement and rotation angle of the beam element in
the direction of the x and y axis, respectively.  is the rotational speed.
The strain energy expression of the beam element can be given as
 L s     
1 ∂θs−y 2 ∂θs−x 2
UShaft - rod  E s Is + dz
2 0 ∂z ∂z
 L s     
1 ∂u 2 ∂v 2
+ κs G s Ss −θs−y + + θs−x + dz
2 0 ∂z ∂z
 Ls  
1 ∂ψ 2
+ G s Js dz (22)
2 0 ∂z
 M. Jin et al.

where E s and Gs denote the elastic modulus and the shear modulus of the beam element, respectively. ks is
the shear correction factor, ks  2(1 + υ s )/(4 + 3υ s ), and υ s  0.3 is the Poisson’s ratio of the beam element;
J s is the torsional moment of the inertia of beam element.
Since the central tie rod and stepped shaft have the same rotational speed, the forward shaft and back shaft
are connected to the front-end and back-end of the central tie rod by using the screw thread. So there exists
the coupling item in the matrices between the stepped shaft and central tie rod. The artificial spring element
is introduced to simulate the connection stiffness associated with the screw thread between the stepped shaft
and central tie rod.
Thus, the discrete model between the central tie rod and stepped shaft are established (take the y direction
as an example), as shown in Fig. 2. The coupling relation expression can be given as
1  1 
Ucoupling  kcoupling−x1 x1 − x1 + kcoupling - y1 y1 − y1
2 2
2 2
1  1 
+ kcoupling - x2 x2 − x2 + kcoupling - y2 y2 − y2
2 2
(23)
2 2
where the k coupling-x1 , k coupling-x2 , k coupling-y1 , k coupling-y2 represent the connection stiffness of the shaft-rod
coupling system in the direction of the x and y axis.

2.3 The mathematical model of the rotating blade [18, 24]

The schematic diagram of a typical rotor-blade coupling system, which considers the coupling effect of
torsional and transverse vibration of the stepped shaft, is shown in Fig. 6. The orthogonal coordinates OXYZ,
OX 1 Y 1 Z 1 , OX 2 Y 2 Z 2 , OX disk Y disk Z disk represent the global coordinate system, the rotating coordinate system,
the local blade coordinate system and the disk coordinate system, respectively. The symbols u, v, w denote
the displacement of an arbitrary point Q at the position of the blade-tip on the radial, bending and swing
directions. Rd is the radius of rigid disk and L b is the length of rotating blade. δ represents the deformation of
blade bending. ψ is torsional angle of the shaft corresponding the position of the disk hub.
The identical blades are cyclic symmetrical around the rigid disk. According to the coordinate transfor-
mation method, the displacement vectors of arbitrary point Q on the i-th blade can be derived in the OXYZ
coordinate system as follows [28]:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
X disk Rd + x + u − yϕ
r Q  ⎣ Ydisk ⎦ + A3 A2 A1 ⎣ v+y ⎦ (24)
Z disk w

where X disk , Y disk , Z disk are displacements of the rigid disk in the OXYZ coordinate system. ϕ represents
the cross-sectional angle of the i-th blade in the OX 1 Y 1 Z 1 coordinate system. A3 denotes the transformation
matrix from the OXYZ coordinate system to the OX disk Y disk Z disk coordinate system rotate around the torsional
direction of the Z axis. A2 denotes the transformation matrix from the OX disk Y disk Z disk coordinate system
to the OX 1 Y 1 Z 1 coordinate system along the direction of the Z axis. A1 denotes the transformation matrix
from OX 1 Y 1 Z 1 coordinate system to the OX 2 Y 2 Z 2 coordinate system. Corresponding specific transformation
coordinate system can be expressed as follows:
⎡ ⎤
1 −ψ 0
A3  ⎣ ψ 1 0 ⎦ (25)
0 0 1
⎡ ⎤
cos ϑi − sin ϑi 0
A2  ⎣ sin ϑi cos ϑi 0 ⎦ (26)
0 0 1
⎡ ⎤
1 0 0
A1  ⎣ 0 cos β − sin β ⎦ (27)
0 sin β cos β

where the ϑ  θ (t) + (i-1)(2π/N b ), θ (t) denotes the angular displacement of the rigid disk. N b is the number
of blades. β denotes the stagger angle of blade. It is worth noting that the axial deformations of stepped shaft
and motion in swing direction of blade deformation are not considered. Hence, the Z disk  0, w  0.
The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

Fig. 6 Schematic diagram of rotating blade coupling system: a schematic diagram of rotating blade b the detailed displacement
vectors of rotating blade

The specific kinetic energy expression of i-th blade considering the coupling effect of the torsional and
bending deformation of the stepped shaft can be given as follows:

1 Lb 2 1
Tblade  ṙ Q dm  (T1 + T2 + T3 ) (28)
2 0 2

where the kinetic energy expression of i-th blade (T blade ) can be divided to three parts: the kinetic energy
expression of i-th blade without the torsional deformation (T 1 ), the kinetic energy expression of i-th blade
with the torsional deformation (T 2 ) and the kinetic energy expression of i-th blade containing the rotation
angle of rigid disk (T 3 ).
The specific expressions of T 1 , T 2 and T 3 can be described as:
 Lb  
u̇ 2 + v̇ 2 − 2u̇ θ̇ v cos β + 2u v̇ θ̇ cos β + 2(x + Rd )v̇ θ̇ cos β + u 2 θ̇ 2 + v 2 θ̇ 2 cos2 β
T1  ρb Ab dx
0 +2u θ̇ 2 (x + Rd ) + θ̇ 2 (Rd + x)2 + ẋd2 + ẏd2 + 2v̇ ẏd Sinβ
 Lb

+ ρb Ib 2θ̇ ϕ̇ cos β + ϕ̇ 2 + θ̇ 2 cos2 β + θ̇ 2 ϕ 2 d x (29)
0
 Lb  
ψ[−2u̇ θ̇ (Rd + x) + 2(x + Rd )v θ̇ 2 cos β] + ψ 2 θ̇ 2 (x + Rd )2
T2  ρb Ab dx
0 ψ̇[2u θ̇(x + Rd ) + 2θ̇(x + Rd )2 + 2v̇(x + Rd ) cos β] + ψ̇ 2 (x + Rd )2
 Lb

+ ρb Ib 2ϕψ θ̇ 2 + ψ 2 θ̇ 2 +2θ̇ ψ̇ cos2 β + 2ϕ̇ ψ̇ cos β + ψ̇ 2 cos2 β d x (30)
0
⎧ ⎫
 ⎪ (2u̇ v̇ sin β − 2xψ v̇ θ̇ sin β − 2v v̇ θ̇ cos β sin β − 2ψ v̇ θ̇ Rd sin β ⎪
Lb ⎨ ⎬
T3  ρb Ab sin ϑi −2 cos β v̇ ẋd − 2u θ̇ ẋd − 2x θ̇ ẋd − 2x ψ̇ ẋd − 2θ̇ Rd ẋd − 2ψ̇ Rd ẋd d x
0 ⎪
⎩ ⎪
⎭
+2u̇ ẏd − 2xψ θ̇ ẏd + 2v θ̇ ẏd cos β − 2ψ θ̇ Rd ẏd )
 M. Jin et al.

  
Lb 2(u + x)v̇ θ̇ sin β + v̇ 2 sin 2β + 2v̇ θ̇ Rd sin β + 2v̇ ψ̇(x + Rd ) sin β + 2u̇ ẋd
+ ρb Ab cos ϑi dx (31)
0 −2(x + Rd )ψ θ̇ ẋd − 2v θ̇ ẋd cos β + 2v̇ ẏd cos β + 2u θ̇ ẏd + 2(x + Rd )θ̇ ẏd + 2(x + Rd )ψ̇ ẏd

where the ρ b , I b , Ab are the density, moment of inertia and the cross-sectional area of i-th blade, respectively.
The strain energy expression of i-th blade, which considers the bending deformation, the transverse shear
force, the radial compression and the centrifugal force, can be written as follows [18]:
  2   2   2   2
1 Lb ∂ϕ 1 Lb ∂v 1 Lb ∂u 1 Lb ∂v
Vblade  E b Ib dx + κb A b G b −ϕ d x+ E b Ab dx + f c (x) dx (32)
2 0 ∂x 2 0 ∂x 2 0 ∂x 2 0 ∂x

where the Gb , E b and k b denote shear modulus, elastic modulus and shear correction factor of i-th blade,
respectively. The specific expression of centrifuge force can be given as follows [18]:
 Lb  Lb
1 
f c (x)  d f c (x)  ρb 2 Ab (x)(Rd + x)d x  · ρb Ab (x)2 L 2b + 2Rd L b − 2Rd x − x 2 (33)
x x 2
The rotating blade can be regarded as the cantilever beam; hence, the cross-sectional area, cross-sectional
moment of inertia and the taper ratios of the blade can be expressed as follows [29]:
  
x x
Ab (x)  A0 1 − ηb 1 − ηh
Lb Lb
  
x x 3
Ib (x)  I0 1 − ηb 1 − ηh
Lb Lb
b1 h1
ηb  1 − , ηh  1 − (34)
b0 h0
where the A0 , I 0 , b0 and h0 are the cross-sectional area, cross-sectional moment of inertia, width and thickness
of the blade root, respectively; h1 , b1 are the thickness and width of the blade tip, respectively; ηh and ηb are
the taper ratios in the thickness and width directions.

2.4 The mathematical model of the rigid disk

The rigid disk is regarded as the lumped-mass model, which is fixed on the stepped shaft. The mathematical
model of the rigid disk is derived based on the hollow cylindrical shell structure, and its strain energy of the
rigid disk is zero. Considering the coupling effect of torsional and bending vibration of the stepped shaft, the
kinetic energies expression of the rigid disk can be given as follows [30]:
1  2 1   1
Tdisk  Jp θ̇ + ψ̇ + m disk ẋc2 + ẏc2 − Jp θ̇ + ψ̇ θ̇s−y θs−x + Jd θ̇s−x
2
+ θ̇s−y
2
(35)
2 2 2
where mdisk is the mass of disk, ψ is the torsional angle of disk, and J p is the polar moment of inertia of the
disk. J d is the diametral moment of inertia of the disk;
The specific detailed expression of mdisk , J p and J d can be given as[31]
  1 1
m disk  ρd π h d D 2 − d 2 /4, JP  m disk D 2 + d 2 /8, Jd  JP + m disk h 2d (36)
2 12
where D, d are the outer diameters and inner diameters of the disk, respectively. hd is the thickness of the disk.
ρ d is the density of the disk.

2.5 Bearing

The strain energy expression of the bearing is given as:

1 T
Vbearing  q K B qs (37)
2 s
The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

where K B is the stiffness matrix of the bearing, and can be expressed as follows:
 
K Bx 0
KB  (38)
0 K By
where K Bx , K By are the stiffness matrices of bearing in the direction of the x and y axis, which can be written
as follows:

K Bx  diag[0, · · · , kbx1 , · · · , 0, · · · kbx2 , · · · , 0]T
(39)
K By  diag[0, · · · , kby1 , · · · , 0, · · · kby2 , · · · , 0]T
where k bxi and k ybi (i  1,2) represent the linear spring stiffness of the bearing in the direction of the x and y
axis.

2.6 The assembled matrices for the CTRRBB system containing the Hirth couplings

The specific kinetic and strain energies expression of CTRRBB system containing the Hirth couplings is given
as follows:

Nb
Ttotal  Tshaft - rod + Tblade + Tdisk (40)
i1

Nb
Vtotal  Vshaft - rod + Vblade + Vbearing (41)
i1

Then, the kinetic energy Eq. (40) and strain energy Eq. (41) of the system are substituted into the Hamilton’s
equations Eq. (42) as follows:
 t2
δtotal (Ttotal − Vtotal )dt  0 (42)
t1

where δ total represents the first variation, and t 1 and t 2 are arbitrary time.
In order to solve the above partial differential equation, the assumed mode method is employed to discretize
the deformation of the CTRRBB system. The displacement function of the u,v,θ x ,θ y and ψ should be expressed
by using the following vector equation of the shape modes as[5]:
 T
Nu (ξ )  Nu1 (ξ ) 0 0 Nu2 (ξ ) 0 Nu3 (ξ ) 0 0 Nu4 (ξ ) 0 (43)
 T
Nv (ξ )  0 Nv1 (ξ ) −Nv2 (ξ ) 0 0 0 Nv3 (ξ ) −Nv4 (ξ ) 0 0 (44)
 T
Nθ x (ξ )  0 −Nϕ1 (ξ ) Nϕ2 (ξ ) 0 0 0 −Nϕ3 (ξ ) Nϕ4 (ξ ) 0 0 (45)
 T
Nθ y (ξ )  Nϕ1 (ξ ) 0 0 Nϕ2 (ξ ) 0 Nϕ3 (ξ ) 0 0 Nϕ4 (ξ ) 0 (46)
 T
Nθ y (ξ )  0 0 0 0 Nφ1 (ξ ) 0 0 0 0 Nφ2 (ξ ) (47)

where the shape function is Noi (ξ ) (o  u, v, θx , θ y , ψ; i  1, 2, 3, 4, 5) , and specific detailed expressions

are also elaborated in Ref[32].
By introducing the Galerkin method and assumed mode method to discrete the deformation of the rotating
blade, the canonical coordinates U i (t), V i (t), ψ(t) are used to describe the radial displacement u(x,t), the
bending displacement v(x,t) and swing displacement ϕ(x,t) of the i-th blade, which can be given as follows
[33]:
N
mod
u(x, t)  φ1i Ui (t)
i1
Nmod
v(x, t)  φ2i Vi (t)
i1
 M. Jin et al.

N
mod
ϕ(x, t)  φ3i ψi (t) (48)
i1

where φ1i , φ2i , φ3i represent the mode shape function of radial displacement, the bending displacement and
the swing displacement of i-th blade, respectively. It is worth noting that N mod represents the number of the
modal truncation (in this paper, N mod  4). The detailed symbol descriptions are shown in existing Ref [30].
To sum up, the differential equation of the CTRRBB system containing the Hirth couplings can be given
as follows:

M eSRB q̈ SRB + C eSRB + G eSRB q̇ SRB + K eSRB q SRB  F eSRB (49)
where M e SRB , C e SRB , Ge SRB , K e SRB , and Fe SRB are defined as follows:
   T
  
M shaft - rod M CT G shaft - rod G C1 T + KT
K shaft - rod K C1
M SRB 
e
, G SRB 
e
, K SRB 
e Acc (50)
MC M blade −G C1 G blade K C1 + K Acc K blade
   T
C shaft−rod 0  T F
C eSRB  , q eSRB = q shaft−rod q blade , F eSRB = shaft−rod (51)
0 C blade F blade
where theM shaft-rod , C shaft-rod ,Gshaft-rod ,K shaft-rod ,Fshaft-rod are the mass, damping, gyroscopic, stiffness and
external force matrices of the shaft-rod coupling system, respectively.M blade , Gblade , C blade , K blade and Fblade
are the mass, gyroscopic, damping, stiffness and external force matrices of the rotating blade, respectively.
M c1 , K c1 , Gc1 are the mass, stiffness and gyroscopic matrices of rotor-blade coupling system, respectively.
K Acc is the acceleration matrix of the rotor-blade coupling system. The Rayleigh damping matrix is given as
follows [34]:
C eSRB  α M eSRB + β K eSRB (52)
where
4π f n1 f n2 (ξ1 f n2 − ξ2 f n1 )
α 2 − f2
(53)
f n2 n1
ξ2 f n2 − ξ1 f n1
β  2 (54)
π f n2 − f n1 2

Among them, the ξ 1 , ξ 2 represent the first and second modal damping ratios of the system, respectively.
The f n1 and f n2 represent the first and second natural frequencies of the system, respectively.
Based on Eq. (19), the equivalent elastic modulus of the Hirth couplings containing the contact effect is
treated as the beam element in dynamic modeling in this paper, which is incorporated into the completed
modeling of the whole dynamic system. The schematic diagrams of assembled matrices of the CTRRBB
system with the Hirth couplings are illustrated in Fig. 7.

3 Modal verification

In order to verify the effectiveness of the CTRRBB system containing the Hirth couplings in this paper,
the validation of the assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings varies with the pre-tightening forces, and the
dynamic model CTRRBB system containing the Hirth couplings is illustrated in Sects. 3.1 and 3.2, respectively.

3.1 Stiffness modification method of the Hirth couplings

The parameters related to the Hirth couplings are defined as follows: The teeth number of the Hirth couplings
is z  20, and the outer diameter and inner diameter are set as D  35, d  30 mm. Before the analytical
model of the Hirth couplings described in Sect. 2.1 is calculated, the assembled stiffness for a pair of the
contact area is needed to be given. Thus, the 3D FE model, as shown in Fig. 8, is established to calculate the
assembled stiffness for a pair of the contact areas of the Hirth couplings. The specific material parameters
of the Hirth couplings are as follows: Elastic modulus EH  210 Gpa, the density ρH  7800 kg/m3 , and
Poisson’s ratio υH is 0.3. The FE model of the Hirth couplings contains 57,089 elements and 272,583 nodes.
The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

Fig. 7 Schematic diagram of assembled matrices for the CTRRBB system containing the Hirth couplings: a the form of the
assembled stiffness matrix for the Hirth couplings b schematic of the stiffness matrix for the CTRRBB system with Hirth
couplings. Note: Central tie rod is abbreviated as the Rod

Fig. 8 Finite element model of the Hirth couplings

The contact interfaces of the Hirth coupling are simulated by the contact bodies and the target bodies with the
friction coefficient 0.2. The boundary conditions are defined as follows: All the nodes of the lower segment
of the Hirth couplings are fixed and all the nodes of the upper segment of the Hirth couplings are applied to
pre-tightening forces. The axial displacement of the upper segment of the Hirth couplings under the different
pre-tightening forces can be used to calculate the assembled stiffness of the Hirth coupling.
The variation trend of the relationship between the assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings and the
pre-tightening forces can be obtained from the analytical model and the ANSYS model, which are shown in
Fig. 9, where the pre-tightening forces are varying from 0 to 160 kN. The results calculated from the analytical
model are in good agreement with ANSYS model; the corresponding analytical model associated with the
assembled stiffness proposed in this paper is effective. The following results and enlightenments are obtained:
(1) With the increase of the pre-tightening forces, the assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings increases
significantly at the initial stage of the pre-tightening forces, and it gradually slows down until the pre-
tightening forces reach the 60 kN.
 M. Jin et al.

Fig. 9 The assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings varies with the pre-tightening forces

(2) However, the normal contact stiffness of the Hirth couplings containing contact interface is obviously
lower than that of the stiffness of the connection parts at the initial stage of pre-tightening forces. This
means that the assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings is determined by the normal contact stiffness of
the Hirth couplings at the initial stage of pre-tightening forces. When the pre-tightening forces reach the
60 kN, there is almost no difference between the normal contact stiffness of the Hirth couplings and the
stiffness of the connection parts, indicating that the pre-tightening forces applied on the Hirth couplings
have reached saturation and tend to be stable. However, the assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings is
always slightly smaller than that of the overall stiffness of the integral rotor due to the existence of the
Hirth couplings at the contact interface.
This paper aims at the design for the Hirth couplings based on discontinuous characteristics. To evaluate
how the pre-tightening forces affect the bending stiffness of non-continuous rotor-blade system. According to
literature[35], the ratio of the equivalent flexural stiffness E I under the action of pre-tightening forces to the
flexural stiffness EI of the continuous rotor-blade system (integral rotor) is defined as correction coefficient of
the interfacial contact, which can be expressed as follows:
E I
η2  (55)
EI
Therefore, the assembled stiffness and the correction coefficient of the interfacial area are first calculated
and listed in Table 1.

3.2 Natural frequencies comparison

A new type of CTRRBB system is taken as the research objective. The specific geometric parameters of the
central tie rod, stepped shaft, rotating blade, disk and bearing and Hirth couplings are depicted in Fig. 1. The
material properties of this model are given as follows: The elastic modulus is 2.0 × 1011 Pa, the Poisson’s ratio
is 0.3, the density is 7850 kg/m3 , and the support stiffness of the bearings in x and y direction are set as k xb1 
k xb2  k yb1  k yb2  2.5 × 107 N/m. The connection stiffness of shaft-rod coupling system is set as k coupling-x1
 k coupling-x2  k coupling-y1  k coupling-y2  1 × 109 N/m. The length, thickness and width of the rotating blade
are 80 mm, 5 mm and 45 mm.
The stepped shaft and the central tie rod are divided into 46 and 34 beam elements (beam188 elements),
respectively. Furthermore, the left-most node (the torsional DOF) and all nodes (axial DOF) of stepped shaft
and the central tie rod are restrained. Every node has 5 DOFs (u、v、θ x 、θ y andψ). Assuming that the rotor is
The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

Table 1 The modified assembled stiffness and correction coefficient of the Hirth couplings vary with the pre-tightening forces

Pre-tightening forces F0 (/kN) Assembled stiffness of the interfacial area Correction coefficient of the interfacial area
E’I/(Pa·mm4 ) η2

0.1 1.30 × 1014 0.0186

0.5 6.06 × 1014 0.0851
1 1.11 × 1015 0.156
2 1.93 × 1015 0.271
3 2.55 × 1015 0.358
4 3.01 × 1015 0.423
5 3.42 × 1015 0.48
10 4.61 × 1015 0.643
15 5.32 × 1015 0.747
30 6.03 × 1015 0.847
60 6.51 × 1015 0.914
120 6.81 × 1015 0.956
160 6.88 × 1015 0.966
Integral rotor 7.12 × 1015 1

described by the rigid disk, which is simulated by lumped-mass model (MASS211 element), the corresponding
disks are superposed to the nodes (22 and 29) of the stepped shaft. The connection stiffness of the shaft-rod
coupling system is presented by the spring-damper element (Combine 14 element); the node 7 of the stepped
shaft and node 48 of the central tie rod and the node 41 of the stepped shaft and node 82 of the central tie
rod are flexibly connected by using the connection stiffness. The rotating blade is meshed by cantilever beam
(beam 188 element), which is divided into 4 elements. The blade roots and disk are rigidly connected by the
sharing node of stepped shaft. The Hirth couplings containing the contact interface is set as consolidation, and
the modified assembled stiffness is treated as the equivalent material layer of the Hirth couplings.
Figure 10 shows the mode shapes of the CTRRBB system based on analytical model under the F0  60 kN.
Because of space limitation, the 2, 4, 7, 10, 12, 14 orders orthogonal mode shapes are omitted in this figure. In
addition, the natural frequencies of the analytical model compared with the ANSYS model (F0  60 kN) are
listed in Table 2. The comparison of the results is very consistent with analytical model and ANSYS model,
where the absolute maximum error of natural frequencies is about 0.28%. Moreover, it can be observed from
Fig. 10 that the eigenvalue mode associated with the coupling mode between the stepped shaft and the central
tie rod; coupling mode between the stepped shaft and rotating blade can be observed in Table 2, which also
further proves the validation of the analytical model of the CTRRBB system.

4 Numerical results

4.1 The influence of the pre-tightening forces on the Natural frequencies of the CTRRBB system considering
the Hirth couplings

Firstly, this paper analyzes the influence of the pre-tightening forces on the natural frequencies of the CTTRRB
system. The natural frequencies of the conical mode of the stepped shaft, swing of disk and first-order bending
mode of the stepped shaft varying with the pre-tightening forces are shown in Fig. 11.
As the pre-tightening forces decreases, the change trend of the natural frequencies of first-order bending
mode of the stepped shaft is obviously higher than that of the natural frequencies of the conical mode of the
stepped shaft and swing of disk, this is because that the conical mode of the stepped shaft and swing mode
of disk associated with bending vibration belong to the rigid body modes. Their bending deformation of the
rigid body modes is weakened than the first-order bending mode of the stepped shaft. Therefore, the variation
of the natural frequencies of the first-order bending mode of the stepped shaft with the pre-tightening forces is
used as the dividing standards of the different contact stages, and then, the entire contact stages can be divided
into three stages: In stage (I), the asperities on the contact interface bear the smaller pre-tightening forces (F0
< 2 kN); normal contact stiffness of the Hirth couplings containing contact interface is obviously lower than
that of the stiffness of the connection parts at the initial stage of pre-tightening forces. At this time, the contact
stiffness of the Hirth couplings determines the value of the overall stiffness of the system. Then, value of the
Table 2 Natural frequencies (Hz) of the CTRRBB system with the Hirth couplings

Pre-tightening force (/kN) Orders AM (Hz) ANSYS (Hz) Error (%) Descriptions of mode shapes

60 1 123.67 123.70 0.01 Conical mode of the stepped shaft in lateral direction
3 233.99 234.02 0.00 Swing of disk
5 339.20 339.19 0.00 The first-order torsional vibration of the stepped shaft
6 602.98 603.60 0.03 The first-order bending vibration of Central tie rod
8 627.59 627.25 0.01 The coupling mode between the shaft torsion and blade bending (counter-directional coupling)
9 635.46 635.12 0.01 The blade-blade coupling mode
11 635.51 635.16 0.01 The coupling mode between the shaft bending and the blade bending (counter-directional coupling)
13 637.12 636.78 0.01 The coupling mode between the shaft bending and blade bending (codirectional coupling)
15 654.44 654.12 0.01 The coupling mode between the shaft torsion and blade bending (codirectional coupling)
16 1057.80 1057.80 0.00 The second-order torsional vibration of the stepped shaft
17 1177.38 1178.20 0.02 The first-order bending mode of stepped shaft
19 1967.99 1946.80 0.27 The second-order bending mode of the stepped shaft
Counter-directional coupling denotes that the blade bending direction on the two disks is the same, and vice versa. AM denotes the analytical model.
M. Jin et al.
The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

Fig. 10 Some mode shapes of the CTTRRB system based on the analytical model under the pre-tightening force (F0  60 kN):
a f (n1) , b f (n3) , c f (n5) , d f (n6) , e f (n8) , f f (n9) , g f (n11) , h f (n13) , i f (n15) , j f (n16) , k f (n17) , L f (n17)

Fig. 11 The variation of the natural frequencies of CTTRRB system with the pre-tightening forces a conical mode of the stepped
shaft b swing mode of disk c first-order bending mode of the stepped shaft

natural frequencies is very small, and change trend of the natural frequencies slows down varying with the
pre-tightening forces, which also indicates that the contact surface is in a contact state called as Hirth coupling
looseness. In stage (II), the asperities on the contact interface bear the medium pre-tightening forces (2 kN ≤ F0
< 60 kN); the natural frequencies and medium pre-tightening forces are approximately linear. As the increase
of the pre-tightening forces, the contact state is dominated by the elastic stage of the Hirth couplings. In stage
(III), the asperities on the contact interface bear the larger pre-tightening forces (F0 ≥ 60 kN), even if the
pre-tightening forces increase, the natural frequencies hardly increase and converges to a constant value, this
is because that the normal contact stiffness of the Hirth couplings gradually approaches the stiffness of the
connection parts, which indicate that the contact surface is in a contact state called as the saturation stage of
the Hirth couplings.
 M. Jin et al.

4.2 The influence of the pre-tightening forces on the Campbell diagram of the CTRRBB system considering
the Hirth couplings connection structure

In this section, the effects of the pre-tightening forces and the rotational speed on the natural frequencies of
the CTRRBB system considering the Hirth couplings are investigated. In order to convenient to distinguish
the different stages of the contact state of the Hirth couplings under the action of the pre-tightening forces, the
pre-tightening forces applied on the Hirth couplings are set as 0.1 kN, 0.5 kN to simulate the loosening stage
of the Hirth couplings, 2 kN to simulate the elastic stage of the Hirth couplings and the 60 kN to simulate the
saturation stage of the Hirth couplings, and the integral rotor as a reference.
The Campbell diagrams of the CTRRBB system considering the Hirth couplings for different pre-tightening
forces and rotational speed are shown in Fig. 12. In order to clearly distinguish the modal frequencies of the
CTRRBB system considering the Hirth couplings, several symbols are utilized to describe the different types
of vibration mode. The symbols S-0, S-1 and S-2 are the mode shapes predominately by the stepped shaft
bending, namely, denoting the conical mode of the stepped shaft in lateral direction, the first-order and the
second-order bending mode of stepped shaft, respectively. The symbol SD is the mode shape predominately
by the disk, denoting the swing of the disk. The symbols ST-1 and ST-2 are the mode shapes predominately by
the stepped shaft torsion, denoting the first-order and second-order the stepped shaft torsion. The symbols BB,
BBT and BBL are the blade-dominated families of the mode shapes, denoting the blade-blade coupling mode,
the coupling mode between the stepped shaft torsion and the blade bending, and coupling mode between the
stepped shaft bending and the blade bending, respectively. The symbol R-1 is the mode shape of the central
tie rod, which indicates the first-order bending mode of the central tie rod. The subscripts 1 and 2 denote the
first-order rotational frequency (f r ) and the second-order rotational frequency (2f r ), respectively.
The natural frequencies of the CTRRBB system for the five cases of pre-tightening forces at zero rotational
speed are listed in Table 3. In additional, based on the results in Fig. 12 and Table 3, some dynamic phenomena
of the CTRRBB system considering the Hirth couplings are as follows:

(1) With the decrease of the pre-tightening forces, the assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings decreases
dramatically, more thresholds of the potentially dangerous speeds are marked in Fig. 12, such as the
crossing points of the 2f r and the natural frequencies (S-0, ST-1, SD, S-1, S-2, R-1, BBT) of the CTRRBB
system, such as the seven critical speeds (A2 , B2 , C2 , D2 , E2 , F2 , G2 ) mainly excited by the 2f r rotational
frequency under the F0  0.1 kN, where the corresponding crossing points are more than the five crossing
points (A2 , B2 , C2 , D2 , E2 ) for the integral rotor. Besides, the crossing points gradually move from the
right to the left, the results show the increase possibility of the operating speed close to the potentially
dangerous speed of the system due to the softening introduced by the Hirth coupling looseness.
(2) The similar results are identical to those in Ref.[18]. Besides, the torsional natural frequencies of the
CTRRBB system with the Hirth couplings decrease significantly with the decrease of the pre-tightening
forces, such as the torsional natural frequencies of ST-1 mode obtained from the analytical model at 0.1
kN decreased by the 68.49% (from the 340.03 Hz to the 107.15 Hz) compared with simulated results
calculated from the integral rotor, and the torsional natural frequencies (518.65 Hz). The ST-2 mode at
0.1 kN decreased by the 51.6% compared to the 1070.27 Hz for the integral rotor (see Table 4), indicating
that the torsional natural frequencies of the system containing the Hirth couplings are sensitive to the
smaller pre-tightening forces than the bending vibration.
(3) The frequencies of the S-0, S-1 and S-2 mode decrease significantly as the decrease of the pre-tightening
forces due to Hirth couplings looseness is mainly attributed to the separation and slippage of contact area
under the action of axial and bending deformation; the decrease of the pre-tightening forces weakens the
constraint of the Hirth couplings on the deformation of the CTRRBB system; therefore, the local contact
area of the Hirth couplings under action of smaller pre-tightening forces is far less than the contact area
of the integral rotor. Besides, the frequencies of SD mode remain almost unchanged due to the rigidity of
the disk.
(4) The modal frequencies of the CTTRRB system with the Hirth couplings are basically consistent with the
integral rotor when the pre-tightening force reaches 60 kN. The reason is that the pre-tightening force
applied on the Hirth couplings reaches saturated stage of the Hirth couplings, and then, there is almost
no difference with the integral rotor.
The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

Fig. 12 The Campbell diagram of the CTRRBB system considering the Hirth couplings varies with the different pre-tightening
forces: a 0.1 kN b 0.5 kN c 2 kN d 60 kN e integral rotor

4.3 The influence of the pre-tightening forces on the modal frequencies of the CTRRBB system considering
the Hirth couplings connection structure

The Campbell diagram plotted in Fig. 12 emphasizes that the modal frequencies of the CTTRRB system
containing the Hirth couplings caused by the decreases of the pre-tightening forces occur a series of the
frequency veering, the intersection and instability phenomena. Based on the previous investigations, this is to
say, the vibration-coupling characteristics of the system are mainly influenced by the pre-tightening forces of
 M. Jin et al.

Table 3 The natural frequencies of the CTRRBB system considering the Hirth couplings under the different pre-tightening forces
condition at 0 rev/min rotational speed based on analytical model

Analytical model (Hz)

0.1 kN (Hz) 0.5 kN (Hz) 2 kN (Hz) 60 kN (Hz) Integral rotor (Hz)

86.50 S-0 113.73 S-0 121.12 S-0 123.63 S-0 123.72 S-0
107.15 ST-1 209.52 ST-1 233.94 SD 233.99 SD 233.99 SD
232.83 SD 233.77 SD 293.45 ST-1 338.29 ST-1 340.03 ST-1
293.08 S-1 463.82 S-1 593.38 R-1 602.88 R-1 603.07 R-1
385.75 S-2 552.29 ST-2 605.39 BBT(x-o) 627.28 BBT(x-o) 627.87 BBT(x-o)
518.65 ST-2 624.38 R-1 635.27 BBL(x-o) 635.46 BB 635.46 BB
615.78 R-1 633.55 BBL(x-o) 635.46 BB 635.51 BBL(x-o) 635.52 BBL(x-o)
635.46 BB 635.46 BB 637.12 BBL(o–o) 637.12 BBL(o–o) 637.12 BBL(o–o)
637.12 BBL(x-o) 637.12 BBL(o–o) 652.69 BBT(o–o) 654.4 BBT(o–o) 654.48 BBT(o–o)
637.77 BBL(o–o) 650.67 BBT(x-o) 771.21 ST-2 1044.91 ST-2 1070.27 ST-2
649.42 BBT(x-o) 689.97 BBT(o–o) 776.11 S-1 1162.67 S-1 1191.43 S-1
675.85 BBT(o–o) 810.58 S-2 1327.55 S-2 1946.75 S-2 1988.15 S-2

the Hirth couplings. Therefore, the following investigation focuses on the variation mechanism of the mode
shapes of the CTTRRB system for the different pre-tightening forces during the veering and instability process.
For the better interpreting the local frequency curve and intersection phenomena of the Campbell diagrams,
the locally enlarged drawing is shown in Fig. 13. The detail coupling phenomena and associated mode shapes
of magnified coupling phenomena vary with the pre-tightening forces, which are given in Table 4.
Compared with the local Campbell diagram and associated mode shapes, the variations of the three-
dimensional mode shapes caused by the decrease of the pre-tightening forces exhibit several interesting cou-
pling phenomena.
(1) The more frequency veering, the intersection and instability phenomena occur in the Campbell diagrams
as the decrease of the pre-tightening forces of the Hirth couplings.
(2) In the case of the F0  60 kN and integral rotor, as the rotational speed is increased from the 12,000 rad/s
to 32,000 rad/s, the natural frequencies of the S-0 mode (BW and FW) and the SD mode (BW) converge
and then veer away from the each other without cross point. Namely, the frequency veering phenomena
occur in the system (veering1). This can be explained by that the energy transformation between the shaft-
dominated and disk-dominated of the modes occurs during the frequency veering region. There exist the
intersections phenomena (Intersection 1) between the ST-1 mode and SD mode (See Fig. 13IV-b and V-b).
Besides, the coupling frequencies of the blade-dominated families of the modes can be classified into
the three categories: BB, BBL and BBT. These coupling natural frequencies curves (convergence1) are
almost overlapped due to the predominated by the blade. In other words, these coupling modes associated
with the blade-dominated families tend to be concentrated in the natural frequencies of the blade, which
referred as the convergence phenomena. Under the saturation stage of the Hirth coupling, the variation of
modal frequencies of the system under the F0  60 kN remains in the same as those of the integral rotor,
(3) In the case of the F0  2 kN, Fig. 13III-c depicts the intersection between the BBT (x-o) mode and
the S-1 mode (BW). According to Fig. 13III-d, the frequency veering phenomenon (veering2) occurs
when the frequencies of the BBT (o–o) mode and the S-1 mode (BW) converge each other, then the disk-
dominated families and the blade-dominated families begin switching, and the other coupling vibration of
the veering1 (See Fig. 13III-a) and convergence1 (See Fig. 13III-d) are consistent with the integral rotor.
Under the elastic stage of the Hirth couplings, reduction of the assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings
at the contact interface gradually becomes significant, which lead to the emergence of the frequency
veering and intersection phenomena between the blade mode and S-1 mode.
(4) In the case of the F0  0.5 kN, it can be observed from Fig. 13II-b, c, d, e that the mode shapes of the
system experience more intersection phenomena than that of the case of the 2 kN, namely, denoting the
intersection between the ST-1 mode and SD mode, SD mode and S-1 mode, the S-0 mode and the ST-2
mode, S-2 mode and BBT(x-o) mode. Besides, Fig. 13II-c shows the frequency veering phenomenon
occurs between the frequency of the S-2 mode (BW) and modal frequency curves of the BBT (o–o)
mode. Namely, the linear system involves mode exchange between the blade-dominated families and
shaft-dominated of modes (veering2). Therefore, this can be explained by frequency veering (veering2)
that occurs between the more high-order mode frequency associated with the shaft-dominated and blade-
dominated families of modes as the decrease of the pre-tightening forces, which can be attributed to the
The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

Table 4 The detail coupling phenomena and associated mode shapes of magnified coupling phenomena varies with the pre-
tightening forces

F0 (/kN) Coupling vibration characteristic Associated mode shapes of the Dominant mode
magnified coupling phenomena

0.1 kN Divergence instability ST-1(Points A1, A2) Shaft torsion

Intersection ST-1 (Points A3, A4) and S0 Shaft torsion and shaft bending
(Points B1, B2, B3)
ST-1 (Points A5, A6) and S0 Shaft torsion and shaft bending
(Points B4, B5)
S-0 (Points B6 and B7) and SD Shaft bending and disk swing
(Points C1, C2)
SD (Points C3, C4) and S-1 Disk swing and shaft bending
(Points D1, D2)
S-1 (Points D3, D4) and S-2 Shaft bending
(Points E1, E2)
S-1 (Points D5, D6), S-2 (Points Shaft torsion and shaft bending
E3, E4) and ST-2 (Points F1, F2,
F3)
R-1 (Points G1, G2) and S-2 Central tie rod’s bending and shaft
(Points E5, E6) bending
Modal convergence BB, BBT, BBL (Points H1, H2, Blade bending
H3)
0.5 kN Frequency veering S-0 (Points A1, B2) and SD Shaft bending ↔ Disk swing
(Points A2, B1)
BBT(o–o) (Point G3) and Blade bending ↔ Shaft bending
S-2(Points H1, H4)
Intersection ST-1(Point C1) and S-0 (Point B3) Shaft torsion and shaft bending
SD (Points B4, B5) and S-1 Disk swing and shaft bending
(Points D1, D2)
ST-2(Point E1, E2) and S-0 (Point Shaft torsion and shaft bending
F1, F2)
BBT (x-o) (Points G1, G2) and Blade bending and shaft bending
S-2 (Point H1, H2)
Modal convergence BB, BBT, BBL (Points G1, G2, Blade bending
G3)
2 kN Frequency veering S-0 (Points A1, B2) and SD Shaft bending ↔ Disk swing
(Points A2, B1)
BBT (o-x) (Point E4) and S-2 Blade bending ↔ Shaft bending
(Points F1, F2)
Intersection ST-1 (Points D1, D2) and SD Shaft torsion and shaft bending
(Points C1, C2)
BBT (x-o) (Points E1, E2) and S-1 Blade bending and shaft bending
(Points F1, F2)
Modal convergence BB, BBT, BBL (Points E1, E2, Blade bending
E3, E4)
60 kN Frequency veering S-0 (Points A1, B2) and SD Shaft bending ↔ Disk swing
(Points A2, B1)
Intersection ST-1(Points D1, D2) and SD Shaft torsion and shaft bending
(Points C1, C2)
Modal convergence BB, BBT, BBL (Points E1, E2, Blade bending
E3)
Integral rotor Frequency veering S-0 (Points A1, B2) and SD Shaft bending ↔ Disk swing
(Points A2, B1)
Intersection ST-1(Points D1, D2) and SD Shaft torsion and shaft bending
(Points C1, C2)
Modal convergence BB, BBT, BBL (Points E1, E2, Blade bending
E3)
“↔” Denotes the mode interchange between the different substructures in coupling system
 M. Jin et al.

Fig. 13 The local Campbell diagram and the associated mode shapes of the CTRRBB system considering the Hirth couplings
vary with the different pre-tightening forces: I 0.1kN II 0.5 kN III 2 kN IV 60 kN (V) Integral rotor
The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

Fig. 13 continued
 M. Jin et al.

Fig. 13 continued

stiffness weakening of the Hirth couplings at the contact interface. The other coupling vibration of the
veering1 (See Fig. 13II-a) and convergence1 (See Fig. 13II-d) is consistent with the integral rotor.
(5) In the case of the 0.1 kN, as displayed in Fig. 13I-b, c, d, e, f, g, h, there exist the more intersection
phenomena between the S-0 mode and the ST-1 mode, the S-0 mode and ST-1 mode, the S-0 mode and
the SD mode, the SD mode and S-1 mode, S-1 mode and S-2 mode, ST-2 mode, S-2 mode and S-1
mode, R-1 mode and S-2 mode. And the convergence1 (See Fig. 13I-d) is identical to the integral rotor.
Besides, the frequency veering phenomenon related to the veering1 and veering2 disappears because
the strain energy of the shaft-dominated families of modes tends to be concentrated at the lower natural
frequency, which will lead to the shaft-dominated families of modes that could not converge with the
disk-dominated or blade-dominated families of modes. As shown in Fig. 13I-a, so it is quite interesting in
that the torsional natural frequencies of the ST-1 mode intersect the abscissa (f  0 Hz) at the   25,000
The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

rev/min, these intersections are customarily regarded as the dangerous speed of the system. These results
confirm that the torsional deformation of the system increases suddenly without vibration, which indicates
the divergence instability in the system. Under the looseness stage of the Hirth couplings, there exist more
intersection phenomena between the high-order the shaft-dominated families of modes and the other
mode frequencies. In addition, the frequency veering phenomenon is transformed into the intersection
phenomena due to the decrease of the assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings, and divergence instability
phenomenon is mainly influenced by the shaft torsion. These phenomena also indicate that the effect of
the pre-tightening forces has a significantly influence on the modal frequencies of the Hirth couplings
at the contact interface, which should be paid enough attention at the assembly stage of the CTTRRB
system with the Hirth couplings.

5 Conclusion

A new analytical model of the assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings considering the contact interface is
proposed based on the force balance and deformation compatibility of each tooth; a new type dynamic model of
the CTRRBB system containing the Hirth couplings is established based on the Hamilton’s variational principle
and Timoshenko beam theory, and then incorporated into the dynamic model of the CTRRBB system. Based
on that, the natural frequencies, three-dimensional mode shapes of the coupling system are investigated under
the effects of the pre-tightening forces and rotational speed. The main conclusions can be summarized as
follows:
(1) With the decrease of the pre-tightening forces, reduction of assembled stiffness of the Hirth couplings at
contact interface becomes significant, which lead to the decrease of the modal frequencies of the system.
The reason is that the Hirth couplings looseness is mainly attributed to the separation and slippage of
contact area.
(2) The influence of the pre-tightening forces and rotational speed on the coupling vibration is complicated,
there exist more coupling vibration phenomena such as the frequency veering, the intersection and even
the divergence instability in the Campbell diagram. With the decrease of the pre-tightening forces, the
shaft-dominated families of modes caused by the Hirth couplings looseness tend to be concentrated at the
lower natural frequency, which lead to the intersection phenomena can be found among the shaft mode,
shaft torsion, blade mode and disk mode. The divergence instability phenomenon occurs when the shaft
torsion intersects the abscissa (f  0 Hz) at the   25,000 rev/min. Additionally, the shaft torsion is
sensitive to the variation of the pre-tightening forces than the modal frequencies of the shaft bending.
(3) The variation of modal frequencies of the system is quite similar with that of the integral rotor when the
pre-tightening forces reach the 60 kN.
In our future, we will focus on the effects of the pre-tightening forces on the rub-induced vibration char-
acteristics based on the analytical model and experiment model.

Acknowledgements The research was supported by the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China
(Grant Nos.51705537), the Graduate Research Innovation Project funding of Central South University (Grant Nos.2019zzts256),
and the State Key Laboratory of High Performance Complex Manufacturing (Grant Nos. ZZYJKT2021-07).

Declarations

Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that
could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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 The vibration characteristics of central tie rod rotor-blade-bearing

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