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Mechanical Vibration Basics and Shaft Vibration

Conference Paper · January 2010

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.3336.6727

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 .',:rkshop on Management and MaintenanCe oJJ(;br~tlonlii,#y'dtciturbine Plants and Comprfssi)(S
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INTRODUCTION
3. Basic concept of Vibration
Mechanical vibration is a form of motion oscillation is basically a to-and-fro motion. It consists of
rapidly fluctuating motions in which there is no "net" movement. When an object vibrates, any point
on the object is displaced from its initial "static" position equally in both directions so that the average
of all its motion is zero. Any object can vibrate differently in three mutually independent directions:
vertical, horizontal and lateral. It is common to describe vibration levels in terms of velocity, which
represents the instantaneous speed at a point on the object that is displaced. In a sense, the human
body respond to average vibration amplitude, which is usually expressed in terms of the root mean
square (rms) amplitude. Vibration occurs in .all forms of machinery and equipment e.g. turbines,
compressors, vehicles, structures, buildings and dynamic systems. It is what you feel when you put
your hand on the hood of a car, the engines of which is running, or on the base of an electric motor
when the motor is running. After all, our heart beat, our lungs oscillate, we shiver when we are.cold, we
sometimes snore, and we can hear and speak because our eardrums and our larynges vibrate. The light
waves which permit us to see entail vibration. We move by oscillating our legs. We cannot say
'Vibration' properly without the tip of the tongue oscillating. Even the atoms of which we are
constituted vibrate.

There have been very many cases of systems failing or not meeting performance targets because of
resonance, fatigue, excessive vibration of one component or another or high noise levels. Because of
the very serious effects which unwanted vibrations can have on dynamic systems, it is essential that
vibration analysis be carried out as inherent part of their design, when necessary modifications can
most easily be made to eliminate vibration or at least to reduce it as much as possible. However,
engineers must recognize that it may sometimes be necessary to reduce the vibration of an existing
machine, either because of inadequate initial design, or by a change in function of the machine, or by a
change in environmental conditions or performance requirements, or by a revision of acceptable noise
levels ..

b. Causesof vibration
Unbalance force, or system of forces acting on or through an elastic or resilient material (as shown in
figure 1). The unbalanced force may be due to mass unbalance, such as in an eccentrically mounted
rotor, or it may be due to the variable inertia forces in machinery, which does not move uniformly, e.g.
crank-and-connecting-rod motion, linkages, earn-follower systems (1). In the latter, the speeds and
directions of motion of machine parts are continuously changing, e.g. the needle motion in a
household sewing machine, bucket motions "in earth-moving machinery, etc. Force unbalance can
arise also from electric, hydraulic and acoustic sources, e.g. transformer hum, water hammer, a
loudspeaker, etc. In addition, Small errors in the geometry of parts-and gear wheels may cause
vibration. Fluctuating stresses during a sufficiently violet motion may become .large enough for
breakagetooccuras was the casewith the Tacoma Bridge in Washington State (2).
 Workshop on Management and Maintenance of Vibration in Hydroturbine PIotrts and ~

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Figure 1: Vibration in a Spring as a Result of Unbalanced Force (2)

c. Adverse Effects of Uncontrolled Vibrations.

The objectionable results of machine vibrations, if left uncontrolled, can be severa I:
• High stresses and force levels may be set up as a result of vibrations and in extreme casesmay lead
to part failure. Suchfailure can be sudden or gradual, as in fatigue.
• Increased wear of parts and unsatisfactory equipment performance. This requires increased
maintenance and may also involve downtime of equipment.
• In a machine tool with excessivevibrations, parts may be inaccurately machined and subsequently
rejected.
• It also cause an inadequately cushioned machine to walk away on its foundation.
• Noise may become excessiveand thus working conditions may become unacceptable.
There are two reasons why it is desirable to study vibration analysis and the dynamics of control
systems together asdynamic analysis.
(i) Control systems can be considered in relation to mechanical engineering using mechanical
analogies, rather than asa specialized and isolated aspect of electrical engineering.
(ii) The basic equations governing the behaviour Ofvibration and control systems are the same.

2. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS IN VIBRATION ANALYSIS

Components in a vibrating system have three properties of interest. They are: mass (weight), elasticity
(springiness) and damping (dissipation). Most physical objects have all three properties, but in many
casesone ortwo of those properties are relatively insignificant and can be ignored (e.g, the damping of
a block of steel, or in some cases,the mass of a spring).
a. Mass: The property of mass (weight) causes an object to resist acceleration. It also
enables an objectto store energy, in the form of velocity (kinetic) or height (potential).
b. Elasticity: The property of elasticity enables an object to store energy in the form of
deflection. A common example is a spring, but any piece of metal has the property of
elasticity.
c. Damping: The property of damping enables an object to dissipate energy, usually by
conversion of kinetic (motion) energy into heat energy. Damping has no effect on the
system resonantfrequenty. .
d. Resonant frequency: The resonant frequency of an object (or system) isthe frequency at which
the system will vibrate if it is excited by a single pulse. The resonant frequency of a system is
determined by both the mass properties and the elasticity properties of the system.

PAGeW "7
 Workshop on Management and Maintenance of VjJjfation in Hydroturbine Plants and Compressors
--------~4~~.-~-.~~C~--------
K/
It is given as ron=.J m where, "k" isthe appropriate elasticity (spring rate) and "m" is
the appropriate mass (3).
e. Frequency:- The number of cycles executed in a unit time or rate at which motion repeats
itself per unit time is known as the 'frequency': If the motion repeats itself every T seconds, the
frequency f= f. =;: cycles per second (HZ). In a high-speed oscilla~ion the frequency is high and
conversely. When, as in fig 1, the spring weight system is not driven by an outside source, the
vibration is a free vibration and the frequency is called the natural frequency of the system. The
most significant characteristics of vibration is its frequency.
f. Center of gravity: - Point of support at which a body would be in balance.
g. Moment of inertia: - The moment of inertia of rigid body about a given axis in the body is the
sum of the product of mass of each volume element and the square of its distance from the axis.
Units are in -Jb-secor Nrns'.
h. Amplitude of the vibration: - The maximum displacement from rest or mean position is called
the amplitude of the vibrations.
i. Cycle or period: - The vibratory motion repeats itself at regular intervals. The Interval of time
within which the motion sequence repeats itself is called a cycle or period.

In general, vibratory motion mayor may not be repetitive and its shape as a function of time may be
simple or complex. Typical vibrations, which are repetitive and continuous, are those of the base or
housing of an electric motor, household fans, vacuum cleaners, sewing machines, turbines, and
compressor. Vibrations of short duration and variable intensity are frequency initiated by a sudden
impact or shock load; for example, rocket equipment upon take off, equipment subject to impact and
drop tests, a package falling from a height, or a lading in a freight car. In many machines, vibration is not
part of its regular or intended operation and function, but rather it cannot be avoided. The task of
vibration isolation is to control this unwanted vibration so that its adverse effects are kept within
acceptable limits .

. 3. KINEMATICSCHARACTERISTICS
a. Coordinate:- A quantity, such as a length or an angle, which helps define the position of a
moving part in figure 1, x is a coordinate, which defines the position of the weight, W.
b. Displacement:-A change in position. It is a vector measured relative to a specific position, or
frame of reference. The change in x (figure 1) measured upwards, say, from the bottom
position, is a displacement. A displacement can be positive or negative, translational or
rotational. For example, an upward displacement may be positive; and a downward
displacement negative. Similarly, a clockwise rotation may be positive and a counter clockwise
rotation negative and given in units of inches, feet, meter, or in the case of rotations degrees,
radians, etc.
c. Velocity: The rate of change of displacement measured in in/see, mis, etc. Velocity has a
direction and this is a vector quantity. Its magnitude is the speed. Angular velocity can be
measured in radians/see, clockwise or counter clockwise.
d. Acceleration: - The rate of change of velocity in units of in/see', m/sec2 etc. It is also a
vector quantity with magnitude and direction. Angular acceleration can be measured in
. radians/see' or deg/se', clockwise or counterwise. /
e. Vibratory motion: - An oscillating motion: for example that of the weight W, shown in figure 1.
Simple harmonic motion: - Is a form of vibratory motion i.e the motion as a function a. of
time is of the form x =aSin cot, where a, co are constants. The maximum displacement, a,
from the mean position (x = 0) is the amplitude. The motion is also called harmonic or
sinusoidal motion.
g. Periodic and non-periodic motions: - A motion, which repeats itself is periodic, a motion,
which does not repeats itself, is non periodic.
h. Steady-state motion: - A periodic motion of a mechanical system e.g. a continuously vibrating
pendulum of constant amplitude. As shown in Fig. 2
PAGeW
 , . Workshop 'on Management and Maintencii!c~3pf Vibration in Hydro'turbine Planfsand Compressors

\ t

Steady State Vibration

Figure 2: Steady State Vibration (1)

l, Transient motion: - A motion which changes with time in a non-periodic manner; often he
motion declines (attenuates) to a negligible value after a finite period of time (e.g. impact
effects which decay with time, etc).
j. Shock motion: - A motion in which there is sharp, nearly sudden change in velocity, e.g. a
hammer blow on a nail, a package falling to the ground from a height, etc. Its mathematical
idealization is that of a motion in which the velocity changes suddenly. The mathe a ical
idealization of a sudden velocity change often represents a close approximation to e real
dynamic behaviour of the system.
k, Pulse: - Usually a displacement-time or force-time function describing an inp into a
dynamical system.
I. Pulse shape: - The shape of the time-displacement or force-displacement curve of a pulse,
Typically, this might be a square wave, a rectangular pulse, or a half sine-wave pulse. In general,
however, the shape can be an arbitrary function ofthe time.
rfl. Harmonics: - Any motion can be considered as made up of a series of simple harmonic mo ions
of different frequencies and amplitudes. The lowest-frequency component is usually called e
fundamental .frequency; higher frequency components are called harmonics or su er-
harmonics. Theirfrequencies are exact multiples ofthe fundamental frequency.

4. THE ENGINEER'S AITITUD,E TO VIBRATION .

Large sums of money are spent nowadays on the study of various forms of vibration. Sometimes e
object is to control it as being something that is fundamentally desirable. More often, the object is 0
find the reason why oscillation is set up and if possible to stop it. Mechanical agitation is not al aysj st
a troublesome by-product of engineering practice. On the contrary, it is often useful and a be
essential. Occasionally, for example, an engineerfinds it necessary to draw the cork from a 0 Ie;' . is
tight, he wifl reduce the friction force opposing withdrawal by twisting the cork bac a fo . He
employs an undeniably useful oscillation.

There are washing machines in the market that rely upon agitation for their fun 0 i g, and there are
many other examples of mechanical shakers for mixing things up; a dentist, for i stance, may use a
special mechanical shaker for mixing amalgam. Alternatively, vibration can be used to unmixed things,
as in sieves and other sorting devices. Concrete will flow far more readily into the furthermost recesses
when it is poured into shuttering if it is suitably vibrated with a probe; this is standard practice in
structural engineering. Many useful vibrations are not associated with 'agitation' at all, as in clocks,
watches and metronomes. Again, one way of conveying grain from one place to another is to make it
jump there along vibrati ng conveyor.
 worksfi'6p oil Managef!'lent ana Maintenance ~fVibra~j[ln IrfHYdtofurbine pfants and 'Compr~.s'spis-,
--------~Q~~.-~-.~~c~---------
Sometimes vibration is employed in medical practice. Machines are made, for instance, whose
purpose is to massage away patients unwanted bulges. Again, vibration of very high frequency has
been found to have many uses-some of them' rather surprising. Thus a dentist, who really wanted to,
could drill a square or a triangular hole in a tooth by means of vibration. When we turn to the
objectionable features of vibration, we find that, the human body presents a number of problems.
Engineers go to considerable lengths in trying to keep the human body in its normal state. In terms of
vibration, this form of endeavour ranges all the way from the manufacture of valves forthe heart to the
prevention of rolling in ships at sea.
If a nut is tightened on bolt, which withstands a fluctuating load, it may work loose by a judicious
vibration-often in matter of a few seconds. For this reason slotted and castellated nuts Fig.3 (a) and
(b) are used in engines for such vital purpose as holding down bearing caps, split pins being inserted
to lock them.

•
inserted to lock them
j -

(a) Slotted nut (b) Castellated nut

Figure 3: Slotted and Castellated nuts (4)

Undoubtedly the worst feature of vibration is that it can cause fatigue of metals, 'reinforced plastics or
other structural material. This type of failure is usually as drastic as it is unexpected and it often
amounts to treachery in one of its purest forms, since there is usually no warning: some component
which has been vibrating over an extended period of time suddenly snaps.

S. FREE VIBRATION
a. Natureoffree vibration
Every object possessesthe ability to vibrate freely on its own after it has been disturbed. Although this
free vibration as such is not often of much interest in engineering, it is essential to have some
understanding of it since, indirectly, it is vitally important. The point is that the behaviour displayed by a
system in free vibration defines, in a very real sense, a sort of 'personality', and the dynamical
personality of a system is what determines its behaviour under all sorts of conditions. For example
after a piano has been struck by one of the hammers, the string of the piano is left vibrating on its own.
It performs a 'free vibration', and it can do this because it hastwo properties. The first is that it has mass
and istherefore capable of possessing kinetic energy by virtue of its motion. The second properly is also
a very common one; it has the ability to store energy by virtue of its distortion from its position of rest.
In the same way a simple pendulum can oscillate because (a) the bob is massive, and (b) its stores
potential energy when the bob rises above its lowest position.
Thus" free vibration is the periodic motion observed as the system is displaced from its static
equilibrium position. Tre force acting are the spring force, the friction force, and the weight of the
mass. Due to the presence of friction, the vibration will diminish with time as shown in Figure 4. Thi~ is
free vibration or sometimes called transient. '
 W9.rkshop on Management and Maintenance of Vibratlifli:;;~!Hy{JroturbinePlants and Compressors
----------~Q~~~~~Do----------
The amplitude offree vibration isgiven by (5):
X,> e-I:,ront (A coscod t + B sino , t)
X, = amplitude offree vibration.
S = damping factor
con = natural circularfrequency
COd = natural damped circularfrequency

A, B =arbitrary constant

Fig.4 Free Vibration

Figure 4: A typical Free Vibration wave

It is worthwhile to note that natural frequency is the frequency of the system having free vibration
without friction, while dammed natural frequency is the frequency of the system having free vibration
and with friction. Fundamental frequency is the lowest frequency at which a dynamical system
vibrates.
b. The decay of free vibration
One otherfeature offree vibration is the fact that it dies away. The effect is known as damping and it is
caused by friction. A bell goes on ringing for a long time after it has been struck because there are no
large frictional forces within its material to dissipate energy in the form of heat and because energy is
radiated quite slowly in the form of sound waves. On the other hand if a car is bounced up and down on
its springs and is then allowed to oscillate on its own, the movement dies away quickly; the shock
absorbers are fitted to ensure that this is SQ. In actuality, most engineering systems during their
vibratory motion encounter friction or resistance in the form of damping. Damping, in its various form·~.
such as air damping, fluid friction, coulomb dry friction, magnetic damping, internal damping, etc, w(11
always slow down the motion, and cause the eventual dying out of the oscillation. If the damping is
heavy, oscillation motion will not occur, the system is said to be over-damped (S >1). Ifthe damping;"s
light, oscillation is possible; the system is said to Isleunder-damped (S <1). A critically-damped system is
one in which the amount of damping is such that motion is on the borderline between the two cases
just mentioned (s =1). The mass upon being released will simply return to its static equilibrium
position. For undamped vibration (S =0).
When damping is particularly desirable, it may be introduced artificially, as with the vibration dampers
on the car. A meter would be little more than a nuisance if its needle swung interminably about the
reading that it is supposed to give before settling down to permit the scale to be without a long delay
Figure 5, curve(b). Too much damping would be as bad as not enough, since the needle would then
creep towards its dreading very slowly as Figure 5 curve (c).
 WOrkshop on Management and Maintenance 0/ Vibration in Hydroturbine Plants1lnd Compressors
---------Q~~~~~C---------

True
reading

o Time

Fig.S
Figure 5: Effect of damping on a meter reading (6)

Many methods have been used for introducing artificial damping into a system. It may be done
electrically or mechanically. A few of the mechanical devices available are:
i. Viscous friction in a fluid:- A simple example is provided by a dashpot, in which a piston moves in
a cylinder and the friction comes from the rush of fluid (often air) through the cylinder wall. In
some other arrangements, paddles move in oil or silicone fluid.
li, High damping materials:- when a bell made of a certain manganese- copper alloy is struck, it
emits a thud rather than a note. Rubber is something used in supports partly for its damping
properties. Again fibre blades have been used in gas-turbine compressor on account of their high
internal damping.
iii. Coating on panels: preparation are available which may be applied to the surface of a metal
panel so that it no longer emits a metallic noise if struck, but only a thud.
iv. Dry friction, in which surfaces are made to rub together during vibration: this is used, for
instance, in some gas turbine compressors in which the blades are hinged to the rotor carrying
them. Again, wads of knitted metal wire are placed in some springs to augment the friction.
v. Sandwich construction: panels made of thin metal sheets separated by a thin layer of
viscoelastic material are good sound insulators. -
vi. Packing with foam plastic and rubber: An egg or and electric light bulb can be dropped from a
great height onto a hard floor without sustaining damage, if it is carefully supported in a suitable
packing material. We may therefore recognise two types of damping those applied deliberately
and that which just happens. While it is s~metimes possible to make sensible calculation of the
damping that is inserted purposely, the damping that occurs otherwise almost invariably defies
calculation and needs to be measured.

6. IMPOSEDVIBRATION
It is now possible to distinguish between various types of vibration. One of it is called forced vibration
and it is set up in a vibration system by applying to it a pulsating disturbance of some sort. The essential
feature of this excitation is that it remains present and unaltered whether the system to which it is
applied vibrates or not. When external force, usually as F(t) = Fosinwt or Focoswt, are acting on the
system Fig. 6 during its vibratory motion, it is termed forced vibration. In forced vibration, the system
will tend to vibrate at its own natural frequency of the excitation force. In the presence of friction, that
portion of motion not sustained by the sinusoidal excitation force will gradually die out. As a result, the
system will vibrate at the frequency of the excitation force regardless of the initial conditions or the
natural frequency of the system. That part of sustained vibration is called steady state vibration or
response of the system. Very often, the steady state response is required in vibration analysis because
of its continuous effects.
 Workshop on Management and Maintenance 0/ Vlbrqtioii-in Hydroturbine PIoAts s;d~-:J!

vv '1 ~Sinwt

Figure 6: Forced Vibration

The amplitude of steady state vibration is given by (1):

Xp= Fa sin(OJt-$)
~0-mOJ2'j +(COJ J
X, = amplitude of steady state vibration
F, = magnitude of the excitation force
k = spring constant
m = mass of the system
c = damping coefficient
OJ= frequency of the excitation force
.$ = phase angle
Force vibration can be set up in a very large number of ways. For instance the shaking near the stern of a
ship is caused by hydrodynamic forces which are generated as the propeller blades pass through the
non-uniform flow caused by the presence of the hull.
a. Resonance
Resonance occurs when the frequency ofthe excitation is equal to the natural frequency of the
system. When this happens, the amplitude of vibration will increase without bound and is
governed only by the amount of damping present in the system. Therefore, in order to avoid
disastrous effects resulting from very large amplitude of vibration at resonance, the natural
frequency of a system must be known and properly taken care of. Resonance vibration is one of
the causes of blades failure in turbo-machinery, as, in steady motion, any given blades pass any
given point at accurately fixed intervals. If, for instance, a water turbine blade receives a splash,
then it will do so at regular intervals and may break as a consequence of resonance. A force
vibration usually becomes significant only if resonance occurs, and this may be very useful. To
shake a sieve mechanically, for instance it is natural to mount it on springs and to obtain the
assistance of a resonant condition. To sum up then-a fluctuating force will give rise to a
vibration which has the same frequency as itself. If that frequency happens to coincide with a
natural frequency then resonance will occur and the vibration will be violet.

b. The suppression offorced vibration

Two distinct methods have been suggested for diminishing unwanted resonant vibration. The
first is to 'detune' the system so that the natural frequencies are shifted away from the exciting
frequencies or, as with the soldiers on the bridge, vice versa. The second is to increase the
damping artificially, as might perhaps be expected, the heavier the damping in a structure, the

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lessviolent will a resonant vibration be for a given excitation.

7. CONClUDING REMARKS
This paper identifies the relevance of vibration in Engineering and also provides an insight into
vibration generally. To an engineer a vibration problem is something that usually demands serious
study, and often he can disregard it only at his or someone else's peril. While an engineer ~:ay
experience extreme difficulty in contending with man-made structures and machines, he has only to
think about some of nature's oscillations to realize how wonderful and complicated oscillatory system
can be. No engineer ever managed to design anything so marvellous. For instance, that remarkable
vibrating machine, the heart. There is no rotating machinery in the human body so that any device,
which is to serve as a pump, has to be a reciprocating one. The heart operates for a lifetime and the
maintenance that it demands is supplied (at least in part) by the results of its own action. Strictly
speaking, it is not the same heart that goes on functioning year in year out, for the process of
maintenance, involves gradual modification of the oscillating device itself. It is perfectly obvious of
course, that the harder one looks at any physical process, the more complex it appears. The art of an
engineer lies (at least, partly) in knowing when to stop peering atthings and to start 'getting on with it'.

REFERENCES

Beards, C.F; (1998), "Engineering Vibration Analysis with Application to control Systems", Edward
Arnold, London

Collin, G; (1998), "Generic Vibration Criteria for vibration Sensitive Equipment", Collin Gordon and
Associates, San Mateo USA.

EPllnc, "Vibration Basics" www.epi-eng.com/mechanical engineering basics/vibration intr

Melles, G; "Fundamentals of Vibration Isolation", www.mellesgriot.com/pdfvisited5/10/2009

Pichard, S. P and Reynolds, P; (2003), "Evaluation of Mathematical Models for Predicting Walking
Induced Vibration of High Frequency Floors", Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, Vol. 3 (No.1) Visited
~~~ ..

William, W.S; (2000), "Theory and Problems of Mechanical Vibrations", Schaum's outline series,
McGraw Hill, New York.

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