Pneumatic bearing application to reduce shaft vibration
Conference Paper
Overview
Overview
abstract
Vibration of rotating shafts in large machinery such as turbines, generators, and pumps can cause wear in a relatively short period of time. This results in high maintenance expenses due to loss of parts, labor and productivity. The focus of the interdisciplinary research presented in this paper is to design and test an air bearing that supplies restoring force to the rotating shaft, thus reducing its vibrations. This paper presents selected features of bearing design and test setup operation. Integral to the air bearing described here is an electronic control system to acquire vibration data and input that data to actuating devices. The control system includes capacitance probes to measure shaft deflection, and stepper-motor control to compensate for shaft motion. Control algorithm in C language affects the system parameters, specifically the time at which air impinges on the bearing. This paper discusses the measurement of shaft deflection at non-critical speeds and the quantitative assessment of shaft vibration reduction with an air bearing.
