Effect of ball bearing misalignment on dynamic characteristics of rotor system

Abstract

Abstract A theoretical model with 5 degrees of freedom (DOF) is derived for a rigid rotor system supported by two ball bearings considering the changes of the bearing stiffness due to misalignment. And then radial and axial vibrations of the rotor system and its bearing reactions under different misaligned offsets are investigated with theoretical and numerical analysis. Then, the effects of misalignment on the vibrations of rotor and the bearing, the variation of stiffness and reaction characteristics of the misaligned ball bearing are predicted theoretically. It is concluded that angular misalignment may cause axial vibration and parallel misalignment can bring out extra moment loads for misaligned bearing.