Steady-state dynamic behavior of an on-board rotor under combined base motions

In the transportation domain, on-board rotors in bending are subjected not only to rotating mass unbalance but also to several movements of their base. The main objective of this article is to predict the dynamic behavior of a rotor in the presence of base excitations. The proposed on-board rotor model is based on the Timoshenko beam finite element. It takes into account the effects corresponding to rotary inertia, gyroscopic inertia, and shear deformation of shaft as well as the geometric asymmetry of disk and/or shaft and considers six types of deterministic motions (rotations and translations) of the rotor’s rigid base. The use of Lagrange’s equations associated with the finite element method yields the linear second-order differential equations of vibratory motion of the rotating rotor in bending relative to the moving rigid base which forms a non-inertial frame of reference. The linear equations of motion highlight periodic parametric terms due to the geometric asymmetry of the rotor components and time-varying parametric terms due to the rotational motions of the rotor rigid base. These parametric terms are considered as sources of internal excitation and can lead to lateral dynamic instability. In the presented applications, the rotor is excited by a rotating mass unbalance combined with constant rotation and sinusoidal translation of the base. Quasi-analytical and numerical solutions for two different rotor configurations (symmetric and asymmetric) are analyzed by means of stability charts, Campbell diagrams, steady-state responses as well as orbits of the rotor.