Dynamic analysis of rotorshaft systems with

viscoelastically supported bearings

N.H. Shabaneh, Jean W. Zu*
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, Ont.,
Canada M5S 3G8
Received 13 March 1998; accepted 4 May 1999
Abstract
In this work, the dynamic analysis of a rotating diskshaft system with linear elastic bearings at the
ends mounted on viscoelastic suspensions is investigated. The exibility of the shaft is incorporated
utilizing the Timoshenko shaft model and the rotor is considered rigid having a mass and moment of
inertia. The viscoelastic support of the linear bearing is modeled as KelvinVoigt model which accounts
for the in-phase stiness and the loss coecient of the material. The equations of motion are derived
and both free and forced vibration analysis are performed. The eects of stiness and damping
parameters of the viscoelastic supports on the complex natural frequencies are studied. The forced
response due to the disk mass unbalance is also investigated. 7 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights
reserved.
1. Introduction
The steadily increasing demands on the performance of high speed machinery have led to
considerable interest in the use of well designed rotorshaft systems. Vibration control for such
high speed rotating shaft systems is of great importance. One of the means to control and
reduce vibrations in rotating machinery is the use of external damping and elastic elements.
External damping and elasticity are mainly provided via exible bearings and/or exible
bearing supports. Flexible bearings can be elastic, viscous and elastic, and viscoelastic [14].
Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330
0094-114X/00/$ - see front matter 7 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S0094- 114X( 99) 00078- 6
www.elsevier.com/locate/mechmt
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-416-978-0961; fax: +1-416-978-0961.
E-mail address: zu@mie.utoronto.ca (J.W. Zu).
Flexible bearing supports provide external damping which can increase the zone of stable
motion of the diskshaft system [5]. Currently, squeeze lm dampers are the most commonly
used bearing supports. The squeeze lm dampers are designed to operate in series with
bearings as integrated parts of the bearing supports [6,7]. However, the main disadvantages of
squeeze lm dampers are complexity of the hardware, high cost, limited operational regions
and tight tolerances [8,9]. Therefore, viscoelastic materials have emerged recently as bearing
supports in rotating shaft systems. The main advantages of viscoelastic supports are the
simplicity in design, operational enhancements and low cost [9]. The use of viscoelastic
supports can reduce rotor vibration and is one of the means to control the dynamic behavior
of such systems.
The modelling of the dynamic behavior of vibrating systems incorporating viscoelastic
elements was not available until recently due to the elaborate work of identifying the
characteristic behavior of viscoelastic materials. Although there is much research on modelling
structures with viscoelastic supports for structural applications, the work on rotating shaft
bearing systems mounted on viscoelastic supports is very limited at the present.
For rotorbearing systems with viscoelastic supports, Dutt and Nakra [10] studied the
stability of a Jecott rotor system which has a rotor disk at the middle of a massless shaft and
linear elastic bearings at the ends mounted on viscoelastic supports. The internal damping and
the linear elasticity of the shaft were considered, and three models for the supports were
assumed; namely the elastic model, Voigt model and the four-element viscoelastic model. They
concluded that stability threshold increases with the introduction of viscoelastic supports
compared to elastic or viscously damped and elastic supports. In a following work, Dutt and
Nakra [11] analyzed the unbalanced vibration response of the same Jecott rotor system by
using a polymeric bearing support. The main aim of their work was to reduce the rotor
unbalance response over a wide frequency range by the use of a suitable viscoelastic support.
In a more recent investigation, Dutt and Nakra [12] studied a Jecott rotor system on exible
supports. They assumed a discrete model for the shaft where the gyroscopic eect and the
asymmetrical location of the rotor were incorporated. The eigenvalues for the system on elastic
supports were solved and the unbalance response for the system on viscoelastic supports was
calculated. It was shown that by choosing a damped viscoelastic support, the unbalance
response can be minimized. Kulkarni et al. [13] used the nite element method based on the
EulerBernoulli beam model to nd the unbalance response and to investigate the stability of a
rotating system with viscoelastically supported bearings. The bearings were modelled as linear
elastic and viscous and the viscoelastic supports were described by a four-element viscoelastic
model. It was shown that with a suitable choice of support characteristics, unbalance response
might be reduced and the instability of the system be eliminated.
In summary, very little work has been reported on the study of the dynamic characteristic of
rotor systems with viscoelastically supported bearings. In the limited research reported, the
shaft was assumed as a simple Jecott rotor or was discretized using the nite element method.
Hence, this paper is focused on developing a continuous model for the rotorshaft system with
viscoelastically supported bearings. The Timoshenko shaft model is used and the KelvinVoigt
viscoelastic model is adopted to model the viscoelastic elements. Free and forced vibration
analysis are performed. Numerical simulations are presented to illustrate the parametric eects
of the viscoelastic characteristics on the vibration frequencies and response.
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1314
2. Equations of motion
Consider a continuous shaftrotor system, as shown in Fig. 1, where the frame oxyz is the
inertial frame. A uniform shaft of length 2l is mounted on viscoelastically supported bearings.
The rotor is considered as a rigid disk with the mass, mass moment of inertia and gyroscopic
moment. For convenience, the viscoelastic element is represented by its equivalent complex
stiness k
+
and is located at both ends of the shaftrotor system underneath the bearing as the
support.
2.1. The shaft
A continuous model based on the Timoshenko beam theory is adopted, which takes into
account the rotary inertia and shear deformations of the beam, thus applicable to either
slender or stubby shafts. Moreover the gyroscopic eects of the shaft can be incorporated.
Considering the shear deformation and rotary inertia, there are four generalized
displacements. u
x
and u
y
are the two transverse deections along the ox and oy directions and
c
x
, c
y
are the corresponding bending angles in the oxz and oyz planes, respectively.
Introducing the complex variables
u = u
x
iu
y
, c = c
x
ic
y
(1)
and the nondimensional space variable, z = zal, the equations of motion of a uniform
Timoshenko shaft system with internal damping are [14]
d
2
u
dt
2

kG
rl
2
_
l
dc
dz

d
2
u
dz
2
_

C
i
rA
_
du
dt
iOu
_
= 0 (2)
d
2
c
dt
2

iOJ
s
rI
s
dc
dt

E
rl
2
d
2
c
dz
2

kAG
rI
s
l
_
lc
du
dz
_
= 0 (3)
Fig. 1. The rotorshaft system with viscoelastically supported bearings.
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1315
where A, I
s
, J
s
and r are the cross-sectional area, transverse moment of inertia, polar mass
moment of inertia per unit length and mass density of the shaft. C
i
is the internal viscous
damping coecient and O is the spin rate of the shaft. E, G and k are Young's modulus, shear
modulus and shear coecient, respectively.
2.2. The viscoelastic element
The characteristic properties of any material can be specied by its constitutive equations,
which classify the relationship between stress and strain in that material. Those materials that
depend on both elastic and viscous behaviors simultaneously are called viscoelastic materials.
The general constitutive law takes the form
e(t) = D
t=t
t=t
0
_
s
(
t
0)
_
(4)
where D is a functional and t
0
is an arbitrary initial time and s(t) an arbitrary stress history
[15]. For a linear dierential uniaxial viscoelastic model, the constitutive relation is
Ps(t) = Qe(t) (5)
in which P and Q are linear dierential operators with respect to time t, of the form
P =

m
i=0
a
i
d
i
dt
i
, Q =

n
i=0
b
i
d
i
dt
i
(6)
a
i
, b
i
in Eq. (6) are material constants and m, n are the number of terms both of which depend
on the viscoelastic response of the material [16,17]. The values of a
i
, b
i
dene the complexity of
the viscoelastic response. Viscoelastic models represented by Eq. (5) are equivalent to network
combinations of perfectly elastic springs and perfectly viscous dashpots. Dierent combinations
for basic viscoelastic models are available [15,16].
The viscoelastic relationship, Eq. (5), can also be described in other notations, such as
s(t) = E
+
e(t) (7)
where E
+
= QaP is the equivalent young's modulus, relating stresses to strains. Furthermore,
the forcedisplacement relationship can be obtained from Eq. (7) as
F = k
+
u (8)
in which k
+
is the equivalent stiness coecient. k
+
is a complex viscoelastic operator and for
Kelvin-Voigt model, for example, it is given by
k
+
= k
v
(1 iZ) (9)
where k
v
is called the stiness coecient and Z is the loss factor.
As shown in Fig. 1, the viscoelastic model consists of a mass M
2
and equivalent stiness
coecient k
+
in both directions x and y. It is noted that, the directional behavior of the
viscoelastic material may play a role, but generally the material is assumed as unidirectional in
bearing support applications.
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1316
2.3. Boundary conditions
Due to symmetry, only the left half of the shaft disk system, i.e. 0z1, is considered. The
displacements of the viscoelastic support at the mass M
2
are denoted by u
x2
, u
y2
, respectively.
The corresponding complex notation is given by
u
2
= u
x2
iu
y2
(10)
Furthermore, introduce the relative complex displacement, u
r
, of the bearing as
u
r
= u(0, t) u
2
(t) (11)
The boundary conditions are expressed as follows:
1. At the bearing where z = 0, the bearing force is
Q
b
= k
b
u
r
c
b
u
r
(12)
where k
b
, c
b
are the stiness coecient and the viscous damping coecient of the bearing,
respectively. Thus, the shear force condition at z = 0, by using Eq. (12) is
kAG
_
1
l
u
/
(0) c(0)
_
= k
b
_
u(0) u
2
_
c
b
_
u(0) u
2
_
(13)
where () = dadt and ( )
/
= dadzX
2. At the bearing where z = 0, the moment condition is
EI
s
l
c
/
(0, t) = 0 (14)
3. At the viscoelastic element where z = 0, the governing equation of motion for the
viscoelastic element is
M
2
 u
2
k
+
u
2
k
b
u
r
c
b
u
r
= 0 (15)
4. At the mid-span of the shaft where z = 1, the shear force is
kAG
l
_
u
/
(1, t) lc(1, t)
_
=
M
d
2
 u(1, t) (16)
where M
d
is the disk mass.
5. At the mid-span of the shaft where z = 1, the complex shear deformation is zero due to
symmetry,
c(1, t) = 0 (17)
In this case, there is no inuence from the gyroscopic moment and the moment of inertia of
the disk because the disk is located at the symmetric point of the system.
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1317
3. Free vibration analysis
To solve the system of Eqs. (2) and (3) for the shaft, assume the solution for the complex
transverse deection and the complex shear deection as
u(z, t) = lU(z)e
lt
, c(z, t) = C(z)e
lt
(18)
where U, C are space functions and l is the frequency. Substituting Eq. (18) into Eqs. (2) and
(3) yields
kG
rl
U
//
l
_
l
2

C
i
rA
(
l iO
)
_
U
kG
rl
C
/
= 0 (19)
E
rl
2
C
//

_
l
2

iOlJ
s
rI
s
_
C
kAG
rI
s
l
U
/
= 0 (20)
Eqs. (19) and (20) can be rewritten in nondimensional form as
a
1
U
//
a
2
U a
3
C
/
= 0 (21)
b
1
C
//
b
2
C b
3
U
/
= 0 (22)
The coecients in Eqs. (21) and (22) are dened as
a
1
= 1, a
2
= s
2
_
"
l
2

"
C
i
_
"
l i
"
O
_
_
, a
3
= 1 (23)
b
1
= s
2
, b
2
=
_
s
2
r
2
_
"
l
2
2i
"
l
"
O
_
1
_
, b
3
= 1 (24)
in which
J
s
= 2rI
s
, r
2
= IaAl
2
, s
2
= EI
s
akGAl
2
(25)
"
O
2
=
rAl
4
EI
s
O
2
,
"
l
2
=
rAl
4
EI
s
l
2
,
"
C
i
=
C
i
l
2

rAEI
s
_ , (26)
Decoupling Eqs. (21) and (22) gives
k
1
U
////
k
2
U
//
k
3
U = 0 (27)
k
1
C
////
k
2
C
//
k
3
C = 0 (28)
where
k
1
= a
1
b
1
, k
2
= a
2
b
1
a
1
b
2
a
3
b
3
, k
3
= a
2
b
2
(29)
Assuming an exponential solution of the form
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1318
U(z) = C
1
e
sz
, C(z) = C
2
e
sz
, (30)
where C
1
and C
2
are constants, and substituting Eq. (30) in either one of the Eq. (27) or Eq.
(28) yield the quartic auxiliary equation
k
1
s
4
k
2
s
2
k
3
= 0 (31)
In general,

k
2
2
4k
1
k
3
_
b k
2
, thus the roots of this auxiliary equation are
s
1
=

k
2

k
2
2
4k
1
k
3
_
2k
1

_
, s
2
=

k
2

k
2
2
4k
1
k
3
_
2k
1

_
, (32)
s
3
=

k
2

k
2
2
4k
1
k
3
_
2k
1

_
, s
4
=

k
2

k
2
2
4k
1
k
3
_
2k
1

_
(33)
Hence, the general solutions of U and C are
U(z) =

4
j=1
A
j
e
s
j
z
, C(z) =

4
j=1
B
j
e
s
j
z
(34)
where
B
j
= a
j
A
j
(j = 1, F F F , 4) and a
j
=
_
a
1
s
2
j
a
2
_
a
(
a
3
s
j )
(35)
The solution to Eq. (15) of the viscoelastic element can be assumed in the form,
u
2
(t) = lU
2
e
lt
(36)
Substituting Eqs. (34) and (36) into Eqs. (12)(17) and nondimensionalizing the resulting
equations, the following is obtained
1
s
2
(U
/
(0) C(0)) =
"
k
b
_
U(0) U
2
_
" c
b
"
l
_
U(0) U
2
_
(37)
C
/
(0) = 0 (38)
_
"
l
2
"
M
2

"
k
+

"
k
b
" c
b
"
l
_
U
2

_
"
k
b
" c
b
"
l
_
U(0) = 0 (39)
1
s
2
(
U
/
(
1
)
C
(
1
))

"
M
d
2
"
l
2
U
(
1
)
= 0 (40)
C
(
1
)
= 0 (41)
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1319
where
"
k
b
=
k
b
l
3
EI
s
, " c
b
=
c
b
l

rAEI
s
_ , (42)
"
M
2
=
M
2
rAl
,
"
k
+
=
k
+
l
3
EI
s
,
"
M
d
=
M
d
rAl
(43)
Representing Eqs. (37)(41) in a matrix form leads to
_
M
_
"
l
__
{Z] = {0] (44)
in which
{Z] =
_
A
1
A
2
A
3
A
4
U
2
_
T
(45)
[M] is a 5 5 matrix, whose elements are dened as
m
1k
=
1
s
2
(
s
j
a
j )

_
"
k
b
" c
b
"
l
_
m
15
=
_
"
k
b
" c
b
"
l
_
m
2k
= a
j
s
j
m
25
= 0
m
3k
=
_
"
k
b
" c
b
"
l
_
m
35
=
"
M
2
"
l
2

"
k
+

_
"
k
b
" c
b
"
l
_
m
4k
= e
s
j
((
s
j
a
j )
as
2

"
M
d
"
l
2
a2 m
45
= 0
m
5k
= a
j
e
s
j
m
55
= 0 ( j = 1, F F F , 4)
(46)
For a non-trivial solution, the determinant of the coecient matrix must be zero, i.e.
Det[M] = 0 (47)
Eq. (47) leads to the frequency equation which is used to solve for the complex
nondimensional frequency
"
l and thus the complex frequency lX Note that the complex
frequency can be divided into two components, the imaginary part corresponding to the
natural frequency o
n
and the real part corresponding to the vibration decrement d, i.e. l =
d io
n
X Once the eigenvalues
"
l are obtained, the corresponding eigenvectors can be found by
using Eq. (44).
4. Forced vibration analysis
The forced vibration in this study is pertained to the rotor mass unbalance. Let e denote the
eccentricity of the disk, the boundary conditions become
1
s
2
(U
/
(0) C(0)) =
"
k
b
_
U(0) U
2
_
" c
b
"
O
_
U(0) U
2
_
(51)
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1320
C
/
(0) = 0 (52)
_
"
O
2
"
M
2

"
k
+

"
k
b
" c
b
"
O
_
U
2

_
"
k
b
" c
b
"
O
_
U(0) = 0 (53)
1
s
2
(
U
/
(
1
)
C
(
1
))

"
M
d
2
"
O
2
U
(
1
)
=
"
M
d
2
e
"
O
2
(54)
C
(
1
)
= 0 (55)
where e is the eccentricity of the disk mass.
Combining Eqs. (51)(55) in a matrix form yields
_
M
f
__
Z
f
_
= {F] (56)
where [M
f
] = [m
pq
]
55
is the coecient matrix, {Z
f
] = [ A
1
A
2
A
3
A
4
U
2
]
T
is the
unknown coecient vector and {F] is the load vector given by
{F] =
_
0 0 0
_
"
M
d
e
"
O
2
_
a2 0
_
(57)
Substituting Eq. (34) into Eq. (56) and solving for the unknown coecient vector {Z
f
] yields
the space component of the complex deformations U(z) and C(z) in the form,
U(z) =

4
j=1
A
j
e
s
j
z
, C(z) =

4
j=1
B
j
e
s
j
z
(58)
The response u
x
and u
y
can be found by separating the real and imaginary components of the
complex deformation u
u(z, t) = lU(z)e
iOt
= l(U
R
i U
I
)(
cos
(
Ot
)
i sin
(
Ot
))
(59)
Thus u
x
and u
y
are obtained as
u
x
= l
_
U
R
cos(Ot) U
I
sin(Ot)
_
(60)
u
y
= l
_
U
R
sin(Ot) U
I
cos(Ot)
_
(61)
It can be seen from Eqs. (60) and (61) that u
x
and u
y
have the same amplitude l

u
2
x
u
2
y
_
X
5. Results and discussion
In this section numerical simulations are performed for a typical rotorshaft system. The
viscoelastic element is modelled as KelvinVoigt model given by Eq. (9). The physical
parameters of this system are given as
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1321
E = 2X04 10
11
Pa n = 0X3 r = 7750 kgam
3
l = 0X15 m
d
s
= 0X028648 m k = 0X68 M
d
= 55 kg d
d
= 0X13 m
e = 0X01 m k
b
= 1 10
9
Nam M
2
= 0X5 kg
Assume that the system is rotating at a typical speed O = 300 rad/s. Consider an undamped
system where C
i
= 0, c
b
= 0, Z = 0 and k
v
= 1 10
8
N/m, and a damped system where C
i
=
400 N s, c
b
= 400 N s/m, Z = 0X01 and k
v
= 1 10
7
N/m. For both systems, the natural
frequencies obtained from the Timoshenko shaft model are compared with those derived for a
Jecott rotor model. For the Jecott rotor system, an assumption of a simply supported shaft
is made to approximate the equivalent shaft stiness. Since there are only two degrees of
freedom for the Jecott rotor model, only the rst two natural frequencies are compared and
the results are in Table 1.
It is shown in Table 1 that for the undamped system, the fundamental frequency of the
Jecott model is close to that of the Timoshenko model, whereas the dierence is larger for the
second natural frequency. The same trend is observed for the damped system by comparing the
imaginary part of the frequency, which corresponds to the natural frequency. This discrepancy
is attributed to the fact that the Jecott rotor gives good approximation only for the
fundamental frequency. Note that the natural frequencies predicted by the Timoshenko model
is always lower than those by the Jecott rotor model. This is expected as the Jecott rotor
model is a stier system. Since the real part of the frequency represents the frequency
decrement, it is observed that the Jecott model predicts a faster vibration decay than the
Timoshenko model for both natural frequencies. It is seen that the discrepancy between the
Timoshenko model and the Jecott model is larger for the damped system than for the
undamped system.
A parametric study is carried out for the undamped and damped systems, wherein, the
eects of the viscoelastic loss coecient Z and the viscoelastic stiness k
v
on the complex
frequencies are presented. Fig. 2(a) and (b) show the variation of the fundamental natural
frequency o
n
and the variation of the corresponding vibration decrement d with the change of
loss coecient Z, respectively. Fig. 2(a) indicates that with the increase of the loss coecient Z,
the fundamental frequency increases. This increase becomes more pronounced for higher values
of the loss coecient ZX From Fig. 2(b), it is observed that with the increase of Z, the vibration
decrement d decreases which implies a faster vibration decay. On the other hand, Fig. 2(c) and
(d) show the dependence of the fundamental frequency o
n
and the vibration decrement d on
the viscoelastic stiness k
v
X It can be seen from Fig. 2(c) that as k
v
increases, o
n
increases until
it reaches the frequency value of a rigidly supported bearing. From Fig. 2(d), it can be noticed
Table 1
The rst two natural frequencies for the undamped and damped systems
Timoshenko model Jecott model
Undamped system 0 + i 446.9624070 0 + i 455.3382350
+ i 12130.484677 + i 14563.761298
Damped system 0.802274 + i 363.768229 0.955806 + i 368.477833
24.953477 + i 4841.887007 206.832897 + i 5669.012398
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1322
that for a viscoelastic stiness of k
v
= 5X16 10
6
, the vibration decrement d takes its lowest
value which indicates the optimum choice.
Fig. 3 shows the second complex frequency varying with the viscoelastic loss coecient Z
and viscoelastic stiness k
v
for the undamped system. The variation of the second natural
frequency o
n
and the corresponding vibration decrement d with the viscoelastic loss coecient
Z are presented in Fig. 3(a) and (b), respectively. It is seen that as Z increases, the natural
frequency increases while the corresponding vibration decrement decreases. Fig. 3(c) and (d)
Fig. 2. First complex frequency vs. viscoelastic parameters for the undamped system, (a) o
n
vs. Z, (b) d vs. Z, (c) o
n
vs. k
v
, and (d) d vs. k
v
X
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1323
show the dependence of the second natural frequency o
n
and the corresponding decrement d
on the viscoelastic stiness k
v
X It can be seen that as the viscoelastic stiness increases, the
natural frequency increases while d decreases. The variation of o
n
and d is more pronounced
for higher values of the viscoelastic stiness (k
v
b 2 10
6
), and there is no optimum value of
the stiness coecient for the second complex frequency.
Figs. 4 and 5 show the dependence of the rst two complex frequencies on the viscoelastic
parameters Z and k
v
for the damped system, where a bearing viscous damping coecient of
Fig. 3. Second complex frequency vs. viscoelastic parameters for the undamped system, (a) o
n
vs. Z, (b) d vs. Z, (c)
o
n
vs. k
v
, and (d) d vs. k
v
X
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1324
c
b
= 400 N s/m and a shaft internal damping of C
i
= 400 N s are assumed. In Fig. 4(a) and
(b), the variation of the fundamental natural frequency o
n
and the corresponding vibration
decrement d with Z are shown, respectively. It is observed that with the increase of Z, the
natural frequency increases while the corresponding decrement decreases. Moreover, for low
viscoelastic loss coecients when Z ` 0X02 and with low viscoelastic stiness when
k
v
` 5 10
6
, the system undergoes vibration augmentation, indicating instability. Fig. 4(c) and
(d) show the variation of the fundamental natural frequency o
n
and the corresponding
Fig. 4. First complex frequency vs. viscoelastic parameters for the damped system, (a) o
n
vs. Z, (b) d vs. Z, (c) o
n
vs.
k
v
, and (d) d vs. k
v
X
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1325
vibration decrement d with the viscoelastic stiness k
v
, respectively. In Fig. 4(c), o
n
increases
with the increase of k
v
until o
n
approaches the value of a rigidly supported bearing for k
v
b
2 10
8
X In Fig. 4(d), it can be seen that d decreases over a limited range of the stiness
coecient with an optimum value of k
v
= 5X45 10
6
X Furthermore, it is shown that for higher
values of the loss coecient Z, d decreases, meaning a faster vibration decay.
Fig. 5(a) and (b) show the variation of the second natural frequency o
n
and the
corresponding vibration decrement d with the viscoelastic loss coecient ZX It can be seen that
Fig. 5. Second complex frequency vs. viscoelastic parameters for the damped system, (a) o
n
vs. Z, (b) d vs. Z, (c) o
n
vs. k
v
, and (d) d vs. k
v
X
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1326
increasing the loss coecient, the natural frequency increases slightly while the vibration
decrement decreases. In Fig. 5(c) and (d), the dependence of the second natural frequency o
n
and the corresponding vibration decrement d on the viscoelastic stiness k
v
are shown,
respectively. It is seen that the natural frequency increases while the vibration decrement
decreases with the increase of the viscoelastic stiness. Thus, Fig. 5 shows the same trend for
the damped case as Fig. 3 for the undamped case.
Fig. 6 shows the forced response of the damped system with a disk mass eccentricity of e =
0X01X It is seen that the rst two resonance frequencies are 370.5 rad/s and 6987.7 rad/s. These
frequencies can be compared to those of Fig. 4(c) and Table 1, where a fundamental frequency
of 368.477 rad/s and a second natural frequency of 5669.012 rad/s are obtained for the same
parameters at a rotating speed O = 300 rad/s. Note that the resonant frequencies are slightly
higher than the corresponding natural frequencies and this is due to the existence of damping.
Fig. 7 shows the variation of the maximum amplitude of the unbalance response with the
loss coecient Z for the damped system. It is found that the value of Z should be chosen to be
away from Z = 0X00995 which gives the highest unbalance response for the system under
consideration.
Fig. 8 shows the variation of the response curve for the damped system with the change of
the mass of the viscoelastic element M
2
X It is noticed that increasing the mass of the
viscoelastic element results in the shift of the response curve to the left, which leads to lower
resonant frequencies. For example, the rst resonance frequency is 70.5 rad/s when M
2
= 0X5
kg, while it is 368.9 rad/s when M
2
= 3 kg.
Comparison is made between the resonant frequencies of the unbalance response predicted
by the Timoshenko model and that of the Jecott rotor model given in [11]. The same physical
parameters are used, except for the following parameters
Fig. 6. The system unbalance response with excitation frequency: (a) rst resonance; (b) second resonance.
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1327
Fig. 7. The variation of the maximum amplitude of the unbalance response with the loss coecient.
Fig. 8. The dependence of the unbalance response on the mass of the viscoelastic element.
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1328
k
b
= 2X4334 10
7
Nam c
b
= 0 N sam C
i
= 400 N s
k
v
= 2X4334 10
7
Nam Z = 0X5 M
2
= 111X5 kg
The two resonance frequencies corresponding to the unbalance response at the location of the
disk for both models are given in Table 2. The results of the Timoshenko model are in
agreement with those of the Jecott rotor model given in [11].
6. Conclusions
The dynamic behavior of a rotating diskshaft system with linear elastic bearings at the ends
mounted on viscoelastic suspensions, is investigated. The shaft is modelled as a Timoshenko
shaft and the rotor is considered rigid having a mass and moment of inertia. KelvinVoigt
viscoelastic model is assumed for the viscoelastic support. Both free and forced vibration
analysis are performed. The eects of the viscoelastic loss coecient and viscoelastic stiness
on the system are studied.
It is found from the study that for a typical rotorshaft system with viscoelastically
supported bearings, increasing the viscoelastic loss coecient increases the natural frequency
while decreases the corresponding vibration decrement. Furthermore, as the viscoelastic
stiness increases, the fundamental frequency increases until it reaches the frequency value of a
rigidly supported bearing. However, the corresponding vibration decrement may decrease or
increase depending on the range of the viscoelastic stiness. The eect of the viscoelastic
stiness on the second natural frequency is similar to that of the fundamental one.
Comparisons are made between the Jecott model and the Timoshenko model on natural
frequencies and resonant frequencies. It is shown that a good agreement is achieved for the
rst frequency. For higher frequency Jecott rotor model can not predict as accurate results as
those from Timoshenko model.
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Table 2
Comparison between resonant frequencies of the Timoshenko model and the Jecott model [11]
Jecott model [11] Timoshenko model
364.2601 rad/s 362.3670 rad/s
583.7452 rad/s 543.7341 rad/s
N.H. Shabaneh, J.W. Zu / Mechanism and Machine Theory 35 (2000) 13131330 1329
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