The Effects of Shaft Rub on Bearing Housing Vibration

Signatures

SpectraQuest Inc.
8205 Hermitage Road
Richmond, VA 23228
(804)261-3300
www.spectraquest.com

July, 2006

Abstract: In this study the vibration signature on bearing housing caused by shaft rub was
studied by applying a rotor rub device on a machinery fault simulator TM. Full annular rub was
simulated with three types of rub head materials: aluminum, brass, and plastic. Experiments
were carried out at three rotatory speeds, i.e., 1000, 2000 and 3000 RPM. Acceleration signals
on bearing housing were collected and analyzed. Several observations on the effects of rub
on bearing housing vibration were presented.

1. Introduction
For rotating machinery, rub is an undesired contact between the rotating and stationary parts. It
causes direct damage to the contacting parts. The damage can range from mild, for light rub, to
complete destruction of the machine.

Generally, rub is caused by some malfunction that produces a shaft/rotor and stator contact.
Some examples of the malfunction which can cause rub include: excessive radial loads,
looseness, misalignment, etc. The rub can be categorized into partial radial rub and full annular
rub. If the actual rub contact occurs over a fraction of the vibration cycle, it is called partial rub.
If it occurs over the entire vibration cycle, maintaining continuous contact, it is called full
annular rub.

How to identify the vibration signature caused by rub on bearing housing is very critical in
preventing rub related machinery failure. Also, the effects of rub material and speed on
vibration signature associated with rub are two other key issues. In this work, efforts have been
made to answer the above questions by simulating rub in a controlled way.

2. Experimental Setup
Shaft rub was simulated on a Machinery Fault Simulator (MFS) TM with a rub kit. The rub kit is
illustrated in Fig. 1 (a). This kit permits the simulation and evaluation of typical rub phenomena
associated with a variety of materials in different angle, loading, and lubricant conditions. The
kit consists of an adjustable tool holder for the rub material, a vertical post, a horizontal bar,
and clamping mechanism. A spring inside the tool holder is compressed and exerts a moderate
pushing force which presses the rub head against the shaft or rotor surface (Fig. 1 (b)).

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Therefore, the rub head will maintain continuous contact with the shaft all the time.
Consequently, the type of rub simulated with this rub kit is full annular rub.

The shaft in the MFS TM is 5/8 in. in diameter and made of steel. It is supported by two rolling
element bearings. During the test, the shaft is not connected to any other components except the
motor.

(a) rub kit installed on MFS TM (b) rub head pressing against shaft

Figure 1. Rub Kit Diagram

Three types of rub head materials were tested in this work. They are aluminum, brass and
plastic. Experiments were carried out at three rotory speeds, i.e., 1000, 2000 and 3000 RPM.
Two accelerometers were installed on each of the two bearing housings in horizontal and
vertical directions respectively to collect the vibration data as illustrated in Fig. 2.

Figure 2. Accelerometers Locations

3. Experimental Results
The vibration signal used for displaying and analyzing in this section is from the acceleration
on the inboard bearing housing in the horizontal direction. Figs. 3 (a) and (b) display the
baseline and shaft rub (aluminum rub head) vibration waveforms in the same time period at
1000 RPM speed, respectively. The amplitude range of Fig. 3 (a) is 1.2e-2. The amplitude
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range of Fig. 3 (b) is 2.4e-1. The vibration amplitude of bearing housing increases significantly
with rotor rub for this case.

(a) Baseline vibration (1000 RPM)

(b) Rub vibration (1000 RPM)

Figure 3. Baseline vs. Rub Vibration Waveforms for 1000 RPM Tests

Figs. 4 (a) and (b) display the baseline and shaft rub (aluminum rub head) vibration waveforms
with the same time period at 3000 RPM speed. The amplitude range of Fig. 4 (a) is 1.1e-1. The
amplitude range of Fig. 4 (b) is 3.7e-1. The vibration of the baseline and rub one have the same
amplitude level. Comparing Fig. 4 and Fig. 3, it can be noticed that the vibration amplitude of
bearing housing of the baseline increases significantly with speed.

(a) Baseline vibration (3000 RPM)

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 (b) Rub vibration (3000 RPM)

Figure 4. Baseline vs. Rub Vibration Waveforms for 3000 RPM Tests

The vibration spectra of bearing housing with and without rub (with different rub head
materials) for the 1000 RPM tests are illustrated in Fig. 5. Fig. 5 (a) is the spectrum without
rub. Figs. 5 (b), (c) and (d) are the spectra for rub head materials of plastic, aluminum, and
brass, respectively. From Fig. 5, it can be seen that the spectrum with rub has significant
difference to that without rub. A careful inspection of Figs. 5 (c) and (d) indicates that the
spectra for rub materials of aluminum and brass are similar to each other. The spectrum for the
plastic rub material has a unique characteristic as illustrated in Fig. 5 (b). In Fig. 5 (b), there is a
dominant resonance component close to 2KHz. Fig. 5 (c) and (d) suggest that the spectral
components for the aluminum and brass rub materials are much more complicated than the case
of plastic rub material. A lot of structural resonances are excited by the rubbing with these two
materials. A comparison of Figs. 5 (b), (c) and (d) indicates that there is a common resonance
excited around 900Hz.

(a) without rub

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 (b) plastic rub head

(c) aluminum rub head

(d) brass rub head

Figure 5. Baseline vs. Rub Vibration Spectra for 1000 RPM Tests

The vibration spectra of bearing housing with and without rub (with different rub head
materials) for the 2000 RPM tests are illustrated in Fig. 6. Comparing Fig. 6 and Fig. 5, similar

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bearing housing vibration signatures can be observed. The plastic rub generates a dominant
resonance component around 2KHz. The spectra for the aluminum and brass rub materials are
close to each other. Additionally a common resonance around 900Hz emerges much more
clearly in Figs. 6 (b), (c) and (d). However, the amplitude difference between the baseline and
rub cases decreases. In Fig. 5 (a), the baseline vibration is very low. However, the baseline
vibration in Fig. 6 (a) can not be neglected.

(a) without rub

(b) plastic rub head

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 (c) aluminum rub head

(d) brass rub head

Figure 6. Baseline vs. Rub Vibration Spectra for 2000RPM Tests

The vibration spectra of bearing housing with and without rub (with different rub head
materials) for the 3000 RPM tests are illustrated in Fig. 7. Fig. 7 indicates that with the
continuous increase in speed, the baseline vibration has increased to the same level with the rub
cases. The spectra below 600 Hz for the baseline and all the three rub cases are very similar.
The difference between baseline and rub spectra is in the high frequency range. The rub excites
high frequency structure resonance which is illustrated clearly by the frequency components
above 600 Hz in Figs. 7 (b), (c) and (d). Comparing Figs. 7, 5 and 6, the spectra for the plastic
and aluminum rub have the largest changes. It seems that their spectra switch characteristics
between Fig. 7 and Figs 5 and 6, i.e., Fig. 7 (b) is similar to Figs 5 (c) and 6 (c) and Fig. 7 (c) is
similar to Figs. 5 (b) and 6 (b).

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 (b) without rub

(b) plastic rub head

(c) aluminum rub head

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 (d) brass rub head

Figure 7. Baseline vs. Rub Vibration Spectra for 2000 RPM Tests

4. Summary
In this study the vibration signatures of rotor rubbing were studied by applying a rotor rub
device on a machinery fault simulator TM. Full annular rub was simulated with three types of
rubbing head materials. The three rub materials are aluminum, brass and plastic. The
experiment was carried out at three speeds, i.e., 1000, 2000 and 3000 RPM. Acceleration
signals on bearing housing were collected and analyzed.

From the experiments, it can be observed that rub generates high frequency structure
resonances. Although the profile of the vibration spectrum caused by rub with a certain
material changes with the speed, the excited structure resonance positions do not change. Under
a certain speed, a specific structure resonance might be more dominant in the vibration
spectrum caused by one rub material than those caused by other materials.