In this paper, lateral vibration of a rotating system with rotor–stator rubbing is investigated experimentally and numerically. An experimental study is conducted using a simple test rig to model a horizontal rotating system with a fixed stator device to simulate rubbing. Furthermore, a lumped parameter model with two degrees of freedom is established with a viscoelastic contact model that considers the stiffness and damping properties of the stator. The fourth/fifth order Runge–Kutta technique is used to solve the nonlinear equations of motion of the rotor system. The effect of changing mass unbalance and radial clearance on the dynamic response is investigated experimentally and numerically. The observed results are presented in detail through bifurcation diagrams, frequency spectra, Poincaré’s points, orbit plots, and time waveforms. The experimental results show that changing the mass unbalance and radial clearance yield significant effects on the system response. The 2 × and 3 × harmonic components are found to serve as good indicators of increasing rub severity. The numerical results show the dynamic characteristics of rub responses such as periodic no-contact, periodic with contact, quasi-periodic, and chaotic responses. The response characteristics are very sensitive to the changes in system parameters and initial conditions. Both the experimental and numerical results show qualitatively that the lateral vibration response exhibits coexistence and alternation of periodic and chaotic responses. Also, quasiperiodic response shows up in some numerical case studies. The obtained results contribute toward a better diagnosis of rotor–stator rub fault in rotating machines.

Various faults may simultaneously occur in a rotor dynamic system. It is crucial to detect and monitor these faults to ensure the safe operation of machinery. Usually, vibration response is utilized for fault diagnosis; however, the identification process becomes more challenging when multiple faults exhibit similar symptoms in the vibration response. In this paper, the vibrational transient response of a cracked rotor is analyzed in the presence of unbalance and coupling misalignment. The study focuses on investigating the possibility, advantages and limitations of using the sub-critical startup response in solving the fault identification problem. Numerical simulations using finite element modeling and experimental investigations are carried out for different individual and multi-fault conditions. Various factors are taken into consideration, including sub-critical limit speed, crack parameters, unbalance parameters and misalignment severity. Numerical and experimental investigations showed that the sub-critical transient response is suitable for the fault detection and diagnosis of the simultaneously existing faults studied. Compared to the critical response, the sub-critical response is more informative and each fault shows a unique feature that can be extracted without the need for sophisticated post signal processing. The study provides useful insights on the interaction between the various fault effects on the vibratory response and presents a simple method for condition monitoring of industrial equipment.

In this paper, the dynamic behavior of rolling element bearings with localized faults on the inner and outer rings is investigated. A nonlinear mathematical model is developed with five degrees of freedom considering rotor unbalance. In this bearing model, the nonlinearity is caused by the Hertzian contact forces and the radial internal clearance. The fourth-order Runge–Kutta technique is used to solve the coupled nonlinear equations of motion numerically. Nonlinear vibration response of the rotor and bearing housing can be obtained in both time and frequency domains. An experimental verification of the numerical model is presented where experimental measurements for defective ball bearings are compared with the numerical results. Envelope spectra of the numerical results show similar behavior to that of the measured experimental signals. A parametric analysis is conducted to investigate the effect of system parameters on the nonlinear dynamic response using time waveforms, orbit plots, frequency spectra and bifurcation diagrams. The presented results demonstrate that the dynamic response shows periodic, quasi-periodic and chaotic motions because of varying rotational speeds and defect width. The proposed model contributes toward improved design and better health monitoring of bearings in practice.

Purpose: In this paper, dynamic behavior of a rotor system with an elliptical breathing crack that simulates the real shape of the crack front is investigated.Methods: A finite element model of the cracked rotor system is developed. The crack breathing mechanism is modelled based on an improved breathing model which considers the inclination of the neutral axis of the cracked element cross-section during shaft rotation. Harmonic balance method is used to solve the equations of motion of the rotor system for steady-state response characteristics. The effect of some parameters such as crack depth, crack shape factor and the spinning speed is investigated.Results and conclusions: The results show that the unique whirl orbits behavior during passage through the subcritical speeds serve as a key indicator of crack presence in the shaft. The effects of the crack front curvature and the breathing model are revealed. The value of shape factor affects the whirl orbit characteristics such as size of the inner or outer loops and the amount by which the orbits rotate while crossing the subcritical speeds. The presented model considering the real crack front shape may contribute towards improved modelling of cracked rotors and better interpretation of measured vibration response.

Rotor–stator whirling is a critical malfunction frequently encountered in rotating machinery, often resulting in severe damages. This study investigates the nonlinear dynamics of a whirling rotor interacting with a snubber ring through numerical simulations that account for the stiffness asymmetries of the snubber ring. A two-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) model is employed to analyse the contact interactions that occurred between the rotor and the snubber ring, assuming a linear elastic contact model. The analysis also incorporates the static offset between the centers of the rotor and the snubber ring. The dynamic behaviour of the whirling system is characterised by pronounced nonlinearity due to transitions between contact and non-contact states. The model is first validated against our prior theoretical and experimental studies. The nonlinear responses of the rotor are analysed to evaluate the effects of stator asymmetry through various techniques, including time-domain waveforms, frequency spectra, rotor orbits, and bifurcation diagrams. Furthermore, the influence of varying system parameters, such as rotational speed and the damping ratio, both with and without stator asymmetry, are systematically analysed. The results demonstrate that the rubbing response is highly sensitive to small variations in system parameters, with stator asymmetry significantly affecting system behaviour, even at low asymmetry levels. Direct stiffness asymmetry is shown to have a more pronounced effect than cross-coupling stiffness. The system exhibits a range of dynamics, including periodic, quasi-periodic, and chaotic responses, with regions of periodic orbits coexisting with chaotic ones. Complex phenomena such as period doubling, period halving, and jump bifurcations are identified, alongside quasi-periodic and period doubling routes to chaos. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the nonlinear phenomena associated with rotor–stator whirling and provide valuable insights into the unique characteristics of rubbing faults, which could facilitate fault diagnosis.