MECG 1043 Handout

Critical Rotating Speed in Shaft Design

FIMCP, ESPOL C.G. Helguero

The critical speed of a rotating shaft can be estimated using the lumped mass model with the Rayleigh
equation, as presented in Appendix A. The fundamental natural frequency is given by the following equa-
tion. √ ∑
g mi yi
ω= ∑ (1)
mi yi2
where mi are the lumped masses on the shaft, each situated at a location with deflection of yi . Note that
due to the formulation and derivation of the Rayleigh’s quotient, the terms expressed in equation (1) are
added up, regardless of the directions of mi g and yi . See Appendix A for more details.

A couple of examples of countershafts shown in Figure 1 are used in the following to illustrate the
calculation of the fundamental natural frequency of the shaft with discrete loading.

m1g m2g m1g

m2g

y1

y1 y2
y2
(a) (b)
Figure 1: (a) a simply-supported countershaft; (b) an overhanging countershaft.

Examples 1: A simply-supported shaft with two pulleys is shown in Figure 1(a). The following calculation
is done to find the critical speed of the shaft. For the sake of illustration, the following numerical val-
ues are used for the simply-supported shaft in Figure 1(a): the two pulleys of 35 lbf and 55 lbf produce
corresponding deflections of y1 = 0.01950 in and y1 = 0.02726 in.

Solution: For the given shaft in Figure 1(a), the deflections are given as y1 = 0.01950 in and y1 =
0.02726 in, with the weights of pulleys at the two locations as 35 lbf and 55 lbf . Hence,
∑
mi yi = 35(0.1950) + 55(0.2726) = 2.181 lbf ·in
∑
mi yi2 = 35(0.1950)2 + 55(0.2726)2 = 0.05418 lbf ·in2

Employing the Rayleigh’s equation for the fundamental natural frequency for this system, we obtain
√ ∑ √
g m i yi 386.1(2.181)
ω= ∑ 2 = = 124.7 rad/sec = 1191 RP M (2)
mi yi 0.05418

Thus, the fundamental frequency is ω = 1191 RP M for this shaft design.

Example 2: An overhanging countershaft with two pulleys is shown in Figure 1(b). The following cal-
culation is done to find the critical speed of the shaft. The numerical values used for the overhanging

1
countershaft in Figure 1(b) are: the two pulleys of 15 kg and 23 kg produce corresponding deflections of
y1 = −0.5 mm and y1 = 0.7 mm.

Solution: For the given shaft in Figure 1(b), it is found that the deflections are y1 = −0.5 mm and y1 =
0.7 mm, with the weights of pulleys at the two locations as 15 kg and 23 kg. Hence,
∑
mi yi = 15(0.5 × 10−3 ) + 23(0.7 × 10−3 ) = 23.6 × 10−3 kg·m
∑
mi yi2 = 15(−0.5 × 10−3 )2 + 23(0.7 × 10−3 )2 = 15 × 10−6 kg·m2

Note the sign of y1 in the first equation. Employing the Rayleigh’s equation for the fundamental natural
frequency for this system, we obtain
√ ∑ √
g m i yi 9.81(23.6 × 10−3 )
ω= ∑ = = 124.2 rad/sec = 1186 RP M (3)
mi yi2 15 × 10−6

Thus, the fundamental frequency is ω = 1186 RP M for this shaft design.

Appendix:

A Derivation of the fundamental frequency

For lumped-parameter systems, the Rayleigh’s method can be used to determine the fundamental natu-
ral frequency of a beam or shaft loaded with a series of lumped-masses, as shown in Figure 1.1 A shaft is
assumed to have static deflection of y1 , y2 , · · · , yn due to the discrete loads of weights m1 g, m2 g, · · · , mn g.
We can write the potential energy, U , and kinetic energy, T , as follows
1
Umax = g(m1 y1 + m2 y2 + · · · + mn yn ) (4)
2
1 2
Tmax = ω (m1 y12 + m2 y22 + · · · + mn yn2 ) (5)
2
∫ ∫
where Tmax = 12 ẏ 2 dm = 21 ω 2 y 2 dm is used. Thus, the fundamental natural frequency from equa-
tions (4) and (5) is √ ∑
g mi yi
ω= ∑ (6)
mi yi2

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The lumped-mass model here assumes that the shaft has negligible weight compared to the lumped masses on the shaft.