Vibration analysis of turbo- machines
Turbomachinery requires vibration analysis with special consideration than general purpose machinery.
This includes identifying natural frequencies or modes of a system to determine if a potential resonance
occurs. The complexity of turbomachinery requires this higher level of vibration analysis, which includes
understanding the importance of transient data (i.e. start-up/shutdown), the role of rotor dynamics,
advanced signal processing, and many other concepts. Likewise, a different array of plotting
configurations is required to extract the necessary data for an accurate assessment of the machinery
(i.e. Bode, Nyquist, Waterfall, Cascade, shaft centerline, and time waveform plots). An essential part of
machinery troubleshooting is using as measured vibration to “tune” a rotordynamic model so that it can
accurately predict both stability and forced response changes. This will allow the engineer to make
design changes to the equipment to potentially reduce the vibration to an acceptable level.
Bode and Polar Plots
At the most basic level, the Bode plot is merely vibration amplitude and phase versus shaft speed, see
Figure 8. However, it can potentially provide a wealth of information not available from steady state
plots such as the FFT. The most common use of the Bode plot is the identification of natural frequencies
present in the machinery. The most common of these are called “critical speeds” which occur when the
shaft rotational speed coincides with a lateral mode and produces a resonance. This appears as an
amplitude peak and phase shift in the Bode plot(approximately 3600 cpm in Figure 8). Identification of
natural frequencies is especially critical in turbomachinery because unlike most general purpose
equipment, they operate above or close to one if not more natural frequencies or modes. The Bode plot
is most powerful in identifying high synchronous vibration. While overall vibration can be plotted versus
shaft speed as well, the Bode plot is not really a tool for identifying non-synchronous vibration. This is a
function that is best performed using a FFT in the form of either a cascade or waterfall plot, to be
discussed later. The importance of compensation and the affect it has on recorded vibration is shown in
the Bode plot in Figure 8. As can be seen, the compensated vector magnitude (blue) starts at a zero
value, in comparison to the uncompensated values that start at approximately 0.2 mils. The slow roll
vector for this probe is approximately 0.22mils at 21°. As mentioned above, it is extremely important to
note that the compensated value is not always less than the raw value. As the phase of the synchronous
vector changes, the vector subtraction both increases and decreaes the magnitude of the compensated
vector.
The polar plot presents the exact same data as the Bode plot, just in a different display format. In the
polar plot the Displacement vector magnitude is measured radially, from the center of the plot and the
phase is plotted Circumferentially. The same data from Figure 8 is plotted in Figure 9 below. A resonance
is indicated in a polar Plot by the speed at which amplitude is a maximum of a loop (i.e. approximately
180 degree phase shift). Additional background information about Bode and Polar plots are provided in
Ref[4].
SHAFT CENTERLINE AND ORBIT PLOTS
Two vibration diagnostic plots that are only available for proximity probes are the shaft centerline and
orbit plots.
As described above the proximity probe system produces both a DC and AC signal. If two orthogonal
probes are
Used, the signals from these two probes can be combined to provide significant insight into the machine
behavior.
The DC signal represents the average shaft position from the proximity probe tip. The most common
application is
When the shaft speed is changing (typically start-up and shutdown). Since the shaft rides on a film of oil,
it rises up
From the bottom of the bearing as the speed increases. A typical shaft centerline plot for the start-up of
a centrifugal
Compressor is shown in Figure 46. The characteristic of this plot is very dependent on the individual
machine type,
Bearing design, and application. Shaft centerline plots are very good for determining if the rotor is
obstructed by a
Stationary component or if the bearing clearance is out of tolerance (either too low or high). Likewise,
trends of
Shaft position over time can be used to determine if a bearing has been damaged, allowing the rotor to
drop down in
The bearings. The shaft orbit plot is created by plotting the time waveform (i.e. AC components) of two
orthogonal
Probes versus each other, which represents the whirling motion of the shaft inside the bearing. A
separate
Illustration of how the shaft orbit is produced from two proximity probe signals is shown in Figure 47.
Additionally,
An illustration of the shaft centerline and orbit plots is shown in Figure 48.
