General vibration concepts for the end-user

By TMI Staff & Contributors · On September 22, 2018

Excessive vibration can be caused by shaking forces (“excitation forces”) that are higher than
normal. For example, maybe the rotor imbalance is too high. Such shaking forces could be
mechanically sourced (such as the imbalance) or hydraulically based (such as from piping
pressure pulsations). They can even be electrically based (such as from uneven air gap in a
motor, or from VFD harmonic pulses). In all these cases, high rotor vibration is typically just
rotor increased oscillating displacement “x” in response to the shaking force “F” working
against the rotor-bearing support stiffness “k”. In equation form, F = k*x, and calculating x for a
given F is known as “forced response analysis”.
This article is an excerpt from the paper, “An end-user’s guide to centrifugal pump
rotordynamics” by William Marscher of Mechanical Solutions, Inc.
However, sometimes all of the shaking forces are actually reasonably low, but still excessive
vibration is encountered. This can be an unfortunate circumstance during system
commissioning, leading to violation of vibration specifications, particularly in variable speed
systems where the chances are greater that an excitation force’s frequency will equal a natural
frequency over at least part of the running speed range. This situation is known as resonance.
A key reason for performing rotordynamic analysis is to check for the possibility of resonance.
Rotordynamic testing likewise should include consideration of possible resonance. In rotor
vibration troubleshooting, it is recommended to first investigate imbalance, then misalignment,
and then natural frequency resonance, in that order, as likely causes, unless the specific
vibration vs. frequency plot (the “spectrum”) or vibration vs. time pulsations indicate other
issues (some of these other issues will be discussed in some detail later).
An important concept is the “natural frequency”, the number of cycles per minute that the rotor
or structure will vibrate at if it is “rapped”, like a tuning fork. Pump rotors and casings have
many natural frequencies, some of which may be at or close to the operating speed range,
thereby causing “resonance”. The vibrating pattern which results when a natural frequency is
close to the running speed or some other strong force’s frequency is known as a “mode shape”.
Each natural frequency has a different mode shape associated with it, and where this shape
moves the most is generally the most sensitive, worst case place for an exciting force such as
imbalance to be applied, but similarly is the best place to try a “fix” such as a gusset or some
added mass. In resonance, the vibration energy from previous “hits” of the force come full cycle
exactly when the next hit takes place. The vibration in the next cycle will then include
movement due to all hits up to that point, and will be higher than it would have been for one hit
alone (the principle is the same as a child’s paddle-ball). The vibration motion keeps being
amplified in this way until its large motion uses up as much energy as that which is being
supplied by each new hit. Unfortunately, the motion at this point is generally quite large, and is
often damaging to bearings, seals, and internal running clearances (e.g. wear rings).
It is desirable that the natural frequencies of the rotor and bearing housings are well separated
from the frequencies that such “dribbling” type forces will occur at. These forces most often
tend to be 1x running speed (typical of imbalance), 2x running speed (typical of misalignment),
or at the number of impeller vanes times running speed (so-called “vane pass” vibrations from
discharge pressure pulses as the impeller vanes move past a volute or diffuser vane “cut-
water”).
In practice, the vibration amplification due to resonance is usually between a factor of two and
twenty five higher than it would be if the force causing the vibration was steady instead of
oscillating. The level of Q depends on the amount of energy absorption, called “damping”, which
takes place between the force oscillation high points. In an automobile body, this damping is
provided by the shock absorbers. In a pump, it is provided mostly by the bearings and the
liquid trapped between the rotor and stator in “annular seals” like the wear rings and balance
piston. If the damping is near the point where it just barely halts oscillating motion (this is how
automobile shocks are supposed to operate, to provide a smooth ride), the situation is known
as “critical damping”. The ratio of the actual to the critical damping is how a rotor system’s
resistance to resonant vibration is best judged.
In other terms that may be more familiar, for practical values of the damping ratio, 2 times pi
times the damping ratio approximately equals the logarithmic decrement or “log dec”
(measures how much the vibration decays from one ring-down bounce to the next). Also, the
amplification factor Q equals roughly 1/(2*damping ratio). One way to live with resonance (not
recommended for long) is to increase the damping ratio by closing down annular seal
clearances, or switching to a bearing that by its nature has more energy absorption (e.g. a
journal bearing rather than an antifriction bearing). This may decrease Q to the point where it
will not cause rubbing damage or other vibration related deterioration.
For this reason, the API610 Centrifugal Pump Standard does not consider a natural frequency a
“critical speed” (i.e. a natural frequency of more than academic interest) if its Q is 3.3 or less.
The problem with any approach relying on damping out vibration is that whatever mechanism
(such as tighter wear ring clearance) is used to increase damping may not last throughout the
expected life of the pump. A counter-intuitive but important concept is the “phase angle”, which
measures the time lag between the application of a force and the vibrating motion which occurs
in response to it.
A phase angle of zero degrees means that the force and the vibration due to it act in the same
direction, moving in step with one another. This occurs at very low frequencies, well below the
natural frequency. An example of this is a force being slowly applied to a soft spring.
Alternately, a phase angle of 180 degrees means that the force and the vibration due to it act in
exactly opposite directions, so that they are perfectly out of step with each other. This occurs at
very high frequencies, well above the natural frequency. Phase angle is important because it
can be used together with peaks in vibration field data to positively identify natural frequencies
as opposed to excessive excitation forces. This is necessary in order to determine what steps
should be taken to solve a large number of vibration problems. Phase angle is also important in
recognizing and solving rotordynamic instability problems, which typically require different
solutions than resonance or excessive oscillating force problems.