Effects of Elevated Temperatures on Rocking Vibration of Rotating Disk and Spindle Systems

Abstract

This paper studies how temperature variations affect natural frequencies of rocking vibration of a rotating disk and spindle system through mathematical modeling and experimental measurements. Existing literature has shown that both radial bearing stiffness krr and natural frequency ω01B of one-nodal-diameter disk modes could substantially affect natural frequencies ω01U of rocking vibration. In this paper, a preliminary experiment first identifies that relaxation of bearing stiffness krr is the dominating factor to shift the natural frequency ω01U at elevated temperatures. In addition, the bearing relaxation primarily results from thermal mismatch between the bearing raceways and the rotating hub. Guided by the experimental results, a mathematical model is developed to determine how temperature variations affect bearing contact angles, bearing preloads, and subsequently the radial bearing stiffness krr. Based on the bearing stiffness krr and disk frequency ω01B at elevated temperatures, one can predict natural frequency ω01U of rocking vibration through the mathematical model by Shen and Ku (1997). Finally, ω01U of a rotating disk and spindle system are measured in a thermal chamber to validate the theoretical predictions.