Effect of Tangential Torque on the Dynamics of Flexible Rotors

Abstract

The effect of tangential load torque on the dynamics of rotors has been studied analytically using both cantilevered and between-bearing rotor models. External damping, distributed shaft mass, and gyroscopic moments are taken into account. A number of analytical approaches, including the classical method and a modified transfer matrix method have been utilized and they all gave results with excellent agreement. For realistic levels of torque, the major effect is found to be on the whirl stability of the system. Stability is found to depend most strongly on the dimensionless ratio of torque to damping, and on the mode shape.