Spindle Analysis

Available online at www.sciencedirect.
com
International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 45 (2003) 5772
Variations of instability in a rotating spindle system
with various bearings
B.W. Huang
, H.K. Kung
Graduate Institute of Mechatronic Engineering, Cheng Shiu Institute of Technology, 840 Cheng Ching Rd.,
Niaosung, 833, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC
Received 5 June 2002; accepted 29 January 2003
Abstract
To drive the speed of spindle faster and faster, especially for micro-via-drilling, the gas bearingspindle
is a must. However, most investigations of the dynamic characteristics of the spindle system are limited to
the ball bearing type of spindle. This work examines the dynamic instability of a rotating spindle system
with various bearings to elucidate the dierence between the ball and gas bearingspindle systems. A round
EulerBernoulli beam is used to approximate the spindle. The Hamilton principle is applied to derive the
equation of motion for the spindle system, and the multiple scales perturbation method is employed to solve
the instability solution of the system. The eects of bearing types and speeds of rotation on the dynamic
characteristics and instability of a rotating spindle system are further studied.
? 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Instability; Rotating spindle; Bearings
1. Introduction
Bearings are used in many rotating machines to brace the rotating spindles and rotors. In the past,
the required speed of rotors was suciently low that ball and roller bearings were usually used in
rotating machinery. Problematically, high temperatures would be generated when ball bearingspindle
systems were operated at high speeds. Modern engineering technology, however, attaining greater
complexity and accuracy, demands rotating machinery to be run at high speeds. Non-contacting gas
and magnetic bearings are very suitable for supporting the spindle and rotor in rotating machin-
ery because of the high temperatures generated by the contact between the spindle and bearing.
Corresponding author. Fax: +886-7-733-7100.

E-mail address: huangbw@cc.csit.edu.tw (B.W. Huang).
0020-7403/03/$ - see front matter ? 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0020-7403(03)00039-0
58 B.W. Huang, H.K. Kung / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 45 (2003) 5772
A number of publications have addressed the properties of gas and magnetic bearings [14]. The
eect of magnetic bearings on instability in a rotating spindle is beyond the scope of this work.
While many researchers have addressed the dynamic response of spindles with various boundary
conditions, others, as in Refs. [5,6], focused on the dynamic response of a spindle supported by
a bearing system that inuences its dynamics. At high speeds in particular, this bearing not only
changes the stiness of the whole spindle system, but also signicantly alters the properties of this
system, as described in Refs. [710]. Gas bearingspindles are required by highly precise machining
to increase spindle speed. The performance and properties of gas bearings have been examined in
Refs. [11,12]. The application and design of gas bearings has been discussed in Ref. [13]. However,
most studies on the dynamic response of spindlebearing systems consider only the ball bearing type
of spindle. No study has compared the eects of ball and gas bearings on the dynamic response of
spindlebearing systems.
During actual service, maintaining a constant spinning speed is almost impossible because the
rotation of the spindle is subjected to some small uctuation in the speed. Theoretically, at a spe-
cic rotation speed, this small uctuation in speed may cause the system to become dynamically
unstable. Most studies of the instability of a spindle system have so far focused on spindle struc-
ture performance [14,15]. Only a few studies, such as [1], have discussed the stability of bearings.
Accordingly, this study addresses the instability of a rotating spindle with ball and gas bearings.
A round EulerBernoulli beam is used to approximate the spindle model. The equation of motion
of the spindlebearing system is derived using the Galerkin method and Hamilton principle. The
multiple scale method is employed to solve the instability region of system. A spindle of real size
is considered. The supporting gas and ball bearings of the spindle are investigated. Massless springs
are used to model the stiness of the bearings to simplify calculations. The eects of rotational
speed and type of bearing on instability of a spindle system are investigated.
2. Theory
This paper considers a spindle supported by ball and gas bearings, as shown in Fig. 1(a), to
elucidate the dynamic instability of a spindle system. Fig. 1(b) presents a simple model for this
spindlebearing system. In this model, a massless spring is employed to simulate the stiness of
bearing, and the spindle is supported by the springs. The rotational speed O of the spindle cannot
be ignored due to the application of bearing in the rotating machinery. In this study, the deection
components t(:, t), and u(:, t) denote the two transverse exible deections of the spindle system.
E and I represent the Youngs Modulus and area inertial of the spindle, respectively.
First, the kinetic energy of a spindle with rotational speed is as follows:
1 =
1
2
_
1
0
jA{[ t(:, t) Ou(:, t)]
2
+ [ u(:, t) + Ot(:, t)]
2
} d:. (1)
The strain energy caused by a bending moment can be written as
U
e
=
1
2
_
1
0
{EI [t
(:, t)]
2
+ EI [u
(:, t)]} d:. (2)

B.W. Huang, H.K. Kung / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 45 (2003) 5772 59
Fig. 1. Rotating spindle with bearings scheme: (a) the spindle supported by bearings; and (b) the simple model of spindle
bearing system.
The strain energy is also caused by the stiness of bearings and is given by
U
s
=
1
2
k
x1
[u(:
1
, t)]
2
+
1
2
k
,1
[t(:
1
, t)]
2
+
1
2
k
x2
[u(:
2
, t)]
2
+
1
2
k
,2
[t(:
2
, t)]
2
, (3)
where k
x1
is the stiness of bearing in u deection at a position :
1
, k
,1
the stiness of bearing in t
deection at a position :
1
, k
x2
the stiness of bearing in u deection at a position :
2
, and k
,2
the
stiness of bearing in t deection at a position :
2
.
The Hamilton principle yields the governing equations of this system:
jA u 2jAO t jAO
2
u + EI (u
+ k
x1
uo(: :
1
) + k
x2
uo(: :
2
) = 0, (4)
jA t + 2jAO u jAO
2
t + EI (t
+ k
,1
to(: :
1
) + k
,2
to(: :
2
) = 0. (5)
For convenience, dimensionless equations of motion of the spindle are used:
u 2
EI
jAL
4

O
t +
EI
jAL
4
{

O
2
u + ( u
+

k
x1
uo( : :
1
) +

k
x2
uo( : :
2
)} = 0, (6)
t + 2
EI
jAL
4

O
u +
EI
jAL
4
{

O
2
t + ( t
+

k
,1
to( : :
1
) +

k
,2
to( : :
2
)} = 0, (7)
where dimensionless parameters are given by
: =
:
L
, :
1
=
:
1
L
, :
2
=
:
2
L
,

O = O
_
EI
jAL
4
, (8)
u( :) =
u( :)
L
, t( :) =
t( :)
L
,

k
x1
=
k
x1
L
3
EI
,

k
x2
=
k
x2
L
3
EI
, (9)
k
,1
=
k
,1
L
3
EI
,

k
,2
=
k
,2
L
3
EI
, (10)
and the boundary conditions are
u
= u
= t
= t
= 0 at : = 0, (11)
u
= u
= t
= t
= 0 at : = 1. (12)
The Galerkin method is employed to derive the equation of motion of the spindle in matrix form.
Therefore, the solutions of Eqs. (6) and (7) can be assumed as
u( :, t) =
m
s=1
[
s
( :)(t), (13)
t( :, t) =
m
s=1
s
( :)q(t), (14)
where
s
( :), [
s
( :) are comparison functions for the spindle system, and (t), q(t) are the coecients
to be determined about time for the system. The exact solution of the beam with freefree boundary
conditions is considered, and ve modes of comparison functions are used:
[( :) = ( :) = (z :)
2
(1 cosh z : cos z :). (15)
Substituting Eqs. (13) and (14) into Eqs. (6) and (7), the equations of motion, in matrix form, for
the spindle system can be derived as
_
[M]
1
0
0 [M]
2
__
(t)
q(t)
_
+ 2

O:
_
0 [G]
1
[G]
2
0
__
(t)
q(t)
_
+ :
2
_
[K
e
]
1
0
0 [K
e
]
2
__
(t)
q(t)
_
+

O
2
:
2
_
[K
O
]
1
0
0 [K
O
]
2
__
(t)
q(t)
_
+ :
2
_
[K
s1
]
1
0
0 [K
s1
]
2
__
(t)
q(t)
_
+:
2
_
[K
s2
]
1
0
0 [K
s2
]
2
__
(t)
q(t)
_
= 0, (16)
where : =
_
EI}jAL
4
. The elements of the matrix in the above equation are given as follows:
(m
i)
)
1
=
_
1
0
[
i
[
)
d : = [(k
O
)
i)
]
1
, (17)
(m
i)
)
2
=
_
1
0
)
d : = [(k
O
)
i)
]
2
, (18)
(q
i)
)
1
=
_
1
0
[
i
)
d :, (19)
(q
i)
)
2
=
_
1
0
i
[
)
d :, (20)
[(k
e
)
i)
]
1
=
_
1
0
[
i
[
)
d :, (21)
[(k
e
)
i)
]
2
=
_
1
0
)
d :, (22)
[(k
s1
)
i)
]
1
=

k
x1
{[
i
( :
1
)}{[
)
( :
1
)}
T
, (23)
[(k
s1
)
i)
]
2
=

k
,1
{
i
( :
1
)}{
)
( :
1
)}
T
, (24)
[(k
s2
)
i)
]
1
=

k
x2
{[
i
( :
2
)}{[
)
( :
2
)}
T
, (25)
[(k
s2
)
i)
]
2
=

k
,2
{
i
( :
2
)}{
)
( :
2
)}
T
. (26)
The rotational speed is assumed to be uctuated with a small perturbation speed

[(t), and so can
be written as
O(t) =

O
0
+

[(t), (27)
where

O
0
= O
0
}
_
EI}jAL
4
and

[(t) = [(t)}
_
EI}jAL
4
.
The governing equations can thus be rewritten as
_
[M]
1
0
0 [M]
2
__
(t)
q(t)
_
+ 2

O
0
:
_
0 [G]
1
[G]
2
0
__
(t)
q(t)
_
+ :
2
_
[K
e
]
1
0
0 [K
e
]
2
__
(t)
q(t)
_
+

O
2
0
:
2
_
[K
O
]
1
0
0 [K
O
]
2
__
(t)
q(t)
_
+ :
2
_
[K
s1
]
1
0
0 [K
s1
]
2
__
(t)
q(t)
_
+:
2
_
[K
s2
]
1
0
0 [K
s2
]
2
__
(t)
q(t)
_
=2(

[

O
0
+

[
2
):
2
_
[K
O
]
1
0
0 [K
O
]
2
__
(t)
q(t)
_
+2

[:
_
[G]
1
0
0 [G]
2
__
(t)
q(t)
_
. (28)
Therefore, Eq. (28) can be rewritten as
[M]{

X} + :[G]{

X} + :
2
[K]{X} = 2:

[[D]{

X} + :
2
(2

O
0

[ +

[
2
)[E]{X}, (29)
where
[M] =
_
[M]
1
0
0 [M]
2
_
, (30)
[G] =
_
0 [G]
1
[G]
2
0
_
, (31)
[K] =
_
[K
e
]
1
0
0 [K
e
]
2
_
+

O
2
0
_
[K
O
]
1
0
0 [K
O
]
2
_
+
_
[K
s1
]
1
0
0 [K
s1
]
2
_
+
_
[K
s2
]
1
0
0 [K
s2
]
2
_
, (32)
[D] =
_
[G]
1
0
0 [G]
2
_
, (33)
[E] =
_
[K
O
]
1
0
0 [K
O
]
2
_
. (34)
A space vector is introduced in Eq. (29) to solve the eigenvalue problem of the system
{J} =
_

X
X
_
. (35)
Substituting Eq. (35) into Eq. (29), the equation can be rearranged as
_
[M] 0
0 :
2
[K]
_
{

J} +
_
:[G] :
2
[K]
:
2
[K] 0
_
{J}
=2

[
_
:[D] 0
0 0
_
{J} + (2

O
0

[ + [
2
)
_
0 :
2
[E]
0 0
_
{J}. (36)
The non-dimensional frequency c
n
in Eq. (36), i.e., the natural frequency of the spindle system, is
dened as
c
n
= c
n
_
EI
jAL
4
for n = 1, 2, . . . . (37)
In industry, the ball bearings are used frequently to support rotating spindles in rotating machinery.
An increasing number of gas bearings have been employed to support the spindle in recent years
since spindles must rotate at increasing speeds. Few investigations have considered the dierent
instabilities of spindle systems with gas and ball bearings. This investigation addresses the dynamic
instability of a spindle that is supported by dierent bearings.
2.1. Supported by ball bearing
In this case, a massless spring is employed to model the stiness of ball bearing. As noted by
Goodwin [5], the stiness of the ball bearing can be described as
k
b
= 1.5
n
C
o
(x
m
c
r
), (38)
where n is the number of rolling elements for ball bearing, =5 is frequently used for ball bearing,
x
m
the inner race displacement, c
r
positive internal clearance, C
o
=(34, 300}
0.35
)d
0.5
, d the diameter
of ball for bearing, and bearings curvature ratio.
The length and diameter of the spindle are L = 0.2 m and D = 0.04 m, respectively. For this
spindle, the type of ball bearing is selected to be 6208. The stiness of the ball bearing is derived
as mentioned above.
2.2. Supported by gas bearing
Many engineering applications for spindle system must depend on gas bearings at high speeds,
low temperatures and under light cutting conditions. Hence, ball bearings are no longer suitable for
broad use. More recently, gas bearings have been frequently used to support high-speed spindles,
especially for printed circuit board (PCB) drilling. Therefore, the dynamic instability of a spindle
with a gas bearing is of interest. As in Ref. [13], the stiness of the gas bearing is given by
k
q
=
dW
dh
, (39)
where W is the work caused by lubricant pressure, and h is the clearance for gas bearing. Therefore,
the stiness of gas bearing is displayed as
k
q
=
(
s

a
)L
q
D
q
C
q
k
q
, (40)
where C
q
is the radius clearance of bearing, L
q
is the length of bearing, D
q
is the diameter of
bearing, P
s
is the provided pressure, and P
a
is the atmospheric pressure, and
k
q
=
W
c(
s

a
)L
q
D
q
, (41)
where c is the eccentric ratio of bearing. As stated above, the non-dimensional gas bearing stiness,
k
q
, can be found if the applied air pressure P
s
and the eccentric ratio of the bearing, c, are known.
Furthermore, the radius clearance of bearing C
q
is derived as
C
q
=
_
24jnd
q
qR1
0
s
I
s
L
q
D
q
_
1}2
, (42)
where j =1.833 10
10
kg s}cm
2
is the viscosity, n =8 is the number of pore, d
q
=0.05 mm is the
diameter of pore, q is the gravity acceleration, R is the gas constant, I
s
is the applied air coecient,
and 1
0
is the temperature.
3. Perturbation analysis
Eq. (36) are a set of simultaneous dierential equations, which are dicult to solve directly.
Modal analysis is used to simplify the solution. After applying the modal analysis, the simultaneous
dierential equations can be rewritten as
[I ]{ u} + [A]{u} = 2

[
O
0
[S]{u}
_
2

[
O
0
+

[
2
O
2
0
_
[Q]{u} (43)
with
[A]
T
_
[M] 0
0 [K]
_
[A] = [I ] =
_
_
1 0 0 . . . 0
0 1 0 . . . 0
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
0 0 0 1
_
_
, (44)
[A]
T
_
[G] [K]
[K] 0
_
[A] = [A], (45)

O
0
[A]
T
_
[D] 0
0 0
_
[A] = [S], (46)

O
2
0
[A]
T
_
0 [E]
0 0
_
[A] = [Q], (47)
{J} = [A]{u}. (48)
The normalized modal matrix [A] comprises m modes of Eq. (36) with no perturbation terms. The
block diagonal matrix [A] is
[A] =
_
_
_
0 c
1
c
1
0
_
[0] [0] [0] [0] [0]
[0]
_
0 c
2
c
2
0
_
[0] [0] [0] [0]

[0] [0] [0]
_
0 c
m
c
m
0
_
_
_
. (49)
Eq. (43) can then be decoupled, and written in a component form as
,
n
c
n
p
n
= 2

[
O
0
_
R
r=1
S
11
nr
r
+
R
r=1
S
12
nr
p
r
_
_
2

[
O
0
+

[
2
O
2
0
_
_
R
r=1
Q
11
nr
r
+
R
r=1
Q
12
nr
p
r
_
,
(50)
p
n
+ c
n
,
n
= 2

[
O
0
_
R
r=1
S
21
nr
r
+
R
r=1
S
22
nr
p
r
_
_
2

[
O
0
+

[
2
O
2
0
_
_
R
r=1
Q
21
nr
r
+
R
r=1
Q
22
nr
p
r
_
,
(51)
where S
i)
n!
and Q
i)
n!
are the i)th entries of the n!th block matrices of [S] and [Q], and {u} =
[,
1
, p
1
, ,
2
, p
2
, . . . , ,
R
, p
R
].
The perturbation velocity,

[(t), is assumed to be small and periodic. Therefore, it can be expanded
as a Fourier series,

[(t) =
Q
)=Q
F
)
e
i c
)
t
, where the parameter c
)
is the perturbation frequency. As
noted, the uctuation term

[(t) is very small in comparison with the constant speed

O
0
; therefore,
the module F
)
is much smaller than

O
0
. Consider a small parameter term, c, dened as F
M
|}

O
0
,
where |F
M
| is the maximum magnitude of components F
)
for ) = 1, 2, 3, . . . , Q. Eqs. (50) and (51)
can then be rewritten as
,
n
c
n
p
n
= 2c

[
_
R
r=1
S
11
nr
r
+
R
r=1
S
12
nr
p
r
_
(2c

[ + c
2

[
2
)
_
R
r=1
Q
11
nr
r
+
R
r=1
Q
12
nr
p
r
_
, (52)
p
n
+ c
n
,
n
= 2c

[
_
R
r=1
S
21
nr
r
+
R
r=1
S
22
nr
p
r
_
(2c

[ + c
2

[
2
)
_
R
r=1
Q
21
nr
r
+
R
r=1
Q
22
nr
p
r
_
, (53)
where

[ =

[}|F
M
|.
By employing the multiple scales perturbation method [16], the solution of Eqs. (52) and (53)
can then be expressed as
u
n
(t, c) = u
n0
(1
0
, 1
1
, 1
2
, . . .) + cu
n1
(1
0
, 1
1
, 1
2
, . . .) + c
2
u
n2
(1
0
, 1
1
, 1
2
, . . .) + , (54)
where 1
:
= c
:
t for : = 0, 1, 2, . . . .
Substituting Eq. (54) into Eqs. (52) and (53) yields
order c
0
: D
0
,
n0
c
n
p
n0
= 0, (55)
D
0
p
n0
+ c
n
,
n0
= 0, (56)
order c
1
: D
0
,
n1
c
n
p
n1
=D
1
,
n0
2

[
_
R
r=1
S
11
nr
r0
+
R
r=1
S
12
nr
p
r0
_
2

[
_
R
r=1
Q
11
nr
r0
+
R
r=1
Q
12
nr
p
r0
_
, (57)
D
0
p
n1
+ c
n
,
n1
=D
1
p
n0
2

[
_
R
r=1
S
21
nr
r0
+
R
r=1
S
22
nr
p
r0
_
2

[
_
R
r=1
Q
21
nr
r0
+
R
!=1
Q
22
nr
p
r0
_
, (58)
where
d
dt
=
d1
0
dt
c
c1
0
+
d1
1
dt
c
c1
1
+
d1
2
dt
c
c1
2
= D
0
+ cD
1
+ c
2
D
2
(59)
and c}c1
)
= D
)
.
Notably, the second-order expansion is not performed because of the complexity of this inves-
tigation and the slight dierence between the results of the rst- and second-order approximations
[1719]. The rst-order approximate solution is
,
n0
= A
n
(1
1
) exp(i c
n
1
0
) + c.c., (60)
p
n0
= iA
n
(1
1
) exp(i c
n
1
0
) + c.c., (61)
where A
n
(1
1
) is an undetermined function of 1
1
, and the corresponding complex conjugate terms
are denoted by c.c. Assuming that

[
,0
= 0 and

[ =
Q
)=1

F
k
e
ic
)
t
+ c.c. and substituting the general
solutions, Eqs. (60) and (61), into Eqs. (57) and (58) yields the following solutions:
D
0
,
n1
c
n
p
n1
=D
1
A
n
e
i c
n
1
0
2
Q
)=1
F
)
R
r=1
S
11
nr
{A
r
e
i[ c
)
+ c
r
]1
0
+

A
r
e
i[ c
)
c
r
]1
0
}
2
Q
)=1
F
)
R
r=1
S
12
nr
{iA
r
e
i[ c
)
+ c
r
]1
0
i

A
r
e
i[ c
)
c
r
]1
0
}
2
Q
)=1
F
)
R
r=1
Q
11
nr
{A
r
e
i[ c
)
+ c
r
]1
0
+

A
r
e
i[ c
)
c
r
]1
0
}
2
Q
)=1
F
)
R
r=1
Q
12
nr
{iA
r
e
i[ c
)
+ c
r
]1
0
i

A
r
e
i[ c
)
c
r
]1
0
} + c.c., (62)
D
0
p
n1
+ c
n
,
n1
=iD
1
A
n
e
i c
n
1
0
2
Q
)=1
F
)
R
r=1
S
21
nr
{A
r
e
i[ c
)
+ c
r
]1
0
+

A
r
e
i[ c
)
c
r
]1
0
}
2
Q
)=1
F
)
R
r=1
S
22
nr
{iA
r
e
i[ c
)
+ c
r
]1
0
i

A
r
e
i[ c
)
c
r
]1
0
}
2
Q
)=1
F
)
R
r=1
Q
21
nr
{A
r
e
i[ c
)
+ c
r
]1
0
+

A
r
e
i[ c
)
c
r
]1
0
}
2
Q
)=1
F
)
R
r=1
Q
22
nr
{iA
r
e
i[ c
)
+ c
r
]1
0
i

A
r
e
i[ c
)
c
r
]1
0
} + c.c., (63)
where

A
r
denotes the complex conjugate of A
r
. This choice depends upon the resonant combinations
of the frequencies; three cases are considered.
(i) frequency c
)
is far from c
c
q
: The existence of the term e
i c
n
1
0
in the general solutions
of Eqs. (62) and (63) may make nding the particular solutions dicult. The complexity of the
calculation indicates that the system would be always stable in this case.
(ii) frequency c
)
is near to c
c
q
: The transition curves are used to mark the boundaries
between the stable and the unstable zones. In this case, the transition curves are:
c
)
= c
+ c
q
2c
_
q
+ O(c
2
), (64)
where
q
=
Q
)=1
F
)
(iS
21
q
S
22
q
iQ
21
q
Q
22
q
)
Q
)=1
F
)
(S
11
q
+ iS
12
q
Q
11
q
+ iQ
12
q
), (65)
q
=
Q
)=1
F
)
(iS
21
q
S
22
q
iQ
21
q
Q
22
q
)
Q
)=1
F
)
(S
11
q
+ iS
12
q
Q
11
q
+ iQ
12
q
). (66)
(iii) frequency c
)
is near to c
c
q
: Similarly, the transition curves of the combination of
resonance of the dierent types can be determined from
c
)
= c
c
q
2c
_
q
+ O(c
2
). (67)
4. Analyses and discussion
This investigation addresses the dynamic properties of a multi-mode spindle with realistically
sized bearings. Hence, the dynamic instability of a spindle supported by ball or gas bearings is
analyzed. The dimensions D = 0.04 m and L = 0.2 m of a rotating spindle are assumed. For this
spindle dimension, the 6208 type of ball bearing is selected. Thus, there are nine balls with a
diameter of 0.0119 m (15}32 in) in a bearing. The bearing curvature ratio is also specied as 0.02.
0.1
1
10
100
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
No. of Mode
gas bearing ball bearing
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Fig. 2. Natural frequencies of a rotating spindle with ball or gas bearings,

O = 0.75.
Investigations of spindlebearing systems have focused on spindles braced by ball bearings. However,
a spindle system braced by a gas bearing is also important in engineering applications, especially
those involving high-speed rotational machinery. In the case considered here, the eccentric ratio of
the gas bearing is selected as c = 0.3, and the applied air coecient is determined as I
s
= 0.25.
Therefore, the provided air pressure is assumed to be 49.225 N}cm
2
[13]. The positions of bearings
are :
1
= 0 and :
2
= 1.
Fig. 2 plots the dierence between natural frequencies of spindles with dierent bearings. Numer-
ical analysis reveals that the dierence between natural frequencies of spindles with ball and gas
bearings decreases as the number of modes increases. Restated, the dynamic properties of a spin-
dle with gas bearings are weaker than those with ball bearings in low modes. However, in higher
modes, the natural frequencies of spindles with ball and gas bearings are almost identical. Only the
low natural frequencies of a rotating spindle may decline signicantly when gas bearings are used
rather than ball bearings. As stated above, the ball bearingspindle system is better suited to heavy
cutting. Fig. 3 shows the frequency response of spindles with dierent bearings. Only the response
in the low-frequency domain is examined. The gure shows that the peak of frequency response of
spindlebearing systems shifts toward lower frequency if the spindle is supported by a gas bearing
rather than a ball bearing.
In real applications of high-speed rotating machinery, rotational speed cannot be maintained per-
fectly constant due to small perturbations during operation. Theoretically, at some specic rotation
speed, the speed uctuation may drive the system into a dynamically unstable condition. Thus, the
dynamic instability of a spindle with dierent bearings is also considered. For simplicity, the pertur-
bation speed is assumed to be

[(t) = 2 cos ct. Fig. 4 presents the dierence between the dynamic
instability of a rotating spindle with ball and gas bearings. Fig. 4(a) shows the unstable regions of
a rotating spindle with ball bearings. In this gure, the unstable regions are the dashed-line zones,
near 2 c
1
, c
1
+ c
2
and 2 c
2
. The unstable regions near 2 c
1
and 2 c
2
are gradually enlarged with the
perturbation speed

[(t), that is, the perturbation parameter c. However, unstable zones near c
1
+ c
2
are almost independent of the perturbation. Fig. 4(b) shows the unstable zones when the spindle is
braced by gas bearings. The results show that the unstable regions may broaden and shift to a lower
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
Frequency
gas bearing ball bearing
. 0 75
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

(
D
b
)
Fig. 3. Frequency responses of a rotating spindle with ball or gas bearings,

O = 0.75.
Fig. 4. Dynamic instability of a rotating spindle with ball or gas bearings,

O= 0.75: (a) with ball bearings; and (b) with
gas bearings.
Fig. 5. Variations in the dynamic instability of a ball bearingspindle with dierent rotating speeds.
frequency domain when a spindle with gas bearings replaces the ball bearings. Notably, the lowest
unstable zone near 2 c
1
may signicantly aect the dynamic characteristics of a high-speed spindle
system. This size of the lowest unstable zone is almost doubled when a spindle with gas bearings
is used instead of one with ball bearings.
The eect of rotational speed on dynamic property of a rotating spindle system is also consid-
ered. Fig. 5 plots the variation of dynamic response of a rotating spindle braced by ball bear-
ings with the dierent speed of rotation. Fig. 5(a) displays frequency responses, in the u di-
rection, in a ball bearingspindle system with dierent speeds of rotation. The lowest frequency
amplitude peak is found to shift to a lower frequency as the rotational speed increases. The
lowest unstable region near 2 c
1
shifts to a lower frequency domain as the rotational speed
increases.
Fig. 6 compares the dynamic responses of a gas bearingspindle with dierent speeds of rotation.
As stated above, when the speed of rotation increases, the lowest frequency amplitude peak may
shift to a lower-frequency domain. Interestingly, the lowest unstable region near 2 c
1
not only shifts
to a lower-frequency domain but is also enlarged simultaneously. The results imply that varying the
Fig. 6. Variations in the dynamic instability of a gas bearingspindle with dierent rotating speeds: (a) frequency response;
and (b) instability region.
speed of rotation may signicantly aect the dynamic instability of a high-speed spindle with gas
bearings.
5. Conclusions
The dynamic response of a spindle supported by dierent bearings can be summarized as follows:
1. Only lower natural frequencies of a spindle system may decrease if gas bearings replace ball
bearings.
2. The dynamic instability of a spindle system is greatly inuenced by the type of bearings by which
the spindle is braced. Unstable regions may enlarge and shift to a lower-frequency domain when
gas bearings are used.
3. The speed of rotation will dramatically aect the dynamic instability of a spindle with gas bearings.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the National Science Council, Taiwan, Republic of China, for
nancially supporting this research through Grant NSC 89-2212-E-230-006.
References
[1] Chinta M, Palazzolo AB. Stability and bifurcation of rotor motion in a magnetic bearing. Journal of Sound and
Vibration 1998;214(5):793803.
[2] Zahorec O, Musil M, Elesztos P. Parametrical vibration of exibly supported rotary machine. Proceedings of the
Seventh International Symposium on Transport Phenomena and Dynamics of Rotating Machinery, Honolulu, Hawaii,
USA, 1998.
[3] Delprete C, Genta G, Repaci A. Numerical simulation of the dynamic behaviour of rotors on active magnetic
bearings. Proceedings of the Seventh International Symposium on Transport Phenomena and Dynamics of Rotating
Machinery, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 1998.
[4] Tan Q, Liu M, Meng H. Study on bearing capacity and stiness of radial magnetic bearing. Journal of Tribology
(in Chinese) 1994;14(4):33744.
[5] Goodwin MJ. Dynamics of rotor-bearing system. London: Unwin Hyman, 1989.
[6] Brandon JA, Al-Shareef KJH. On the applicability of modal and response representations in the dynamic analysis
of machine tool spindle bearing systems. IMechE, Journal of Engineering Manufacture 1991;205:13945.
[7] Jorgensen BR, Shin YC. Dynamics of spindle-bearing systems at high speeds including cutting load eects. ASME,
Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering 1998;120:38794.
[8] Wang WR, Chang CN. Dynamic analysis and design of a machine tool spindle-bearing system. ASME, Journal of
Vibration and Acoustics 1994;116:2805.
[9] Parker RG, Mote CJ. Vibration and coupling phenomena in asymmetric disk-spindle systems. ASME, Journal of
Applied Mechanics 1996;63:95361.
[10] Shen IY. Closed-form forced response of a damped, rotating, multiple disks/spindle system. ASME, Journal of
Applied Mechanics 1997;63:34352.
[11] Agrawal GL. The load capacity of shaped gas thrust bearing. Proceedings of the Ninth International Gas Bearing
Symposium, Washington, DC, USA, 1986.
[12] Holster PL, Jacobs JAH. Theoretical analysis and experimental verication on the static properties of externally
pressurized air-bearing pads with load compensation. Proceedings of the Ninth International Gas Bearing Symposium,
Washington, DC, USA, 1986.
[13] Lie GY. Gas lubricated bearings. Tainan: Hu-Han Press, 1991.
[14] Jayaram S, Kapoor SG, DeVor RE. Analytical stability analysis of variable spindle speed machining. ASME, Journal
of Manufacturing Science and Engineering 2000;122(3):3917.
[15] Parker RG, Sathe PJ. Free vibration and stability of a spinning disk-spindle system. ASME, Journal of Vibration
and Acoustics 1999;121(3):3916.
[16] Nayfey AH, Mook DT. Parametric excitations of linear systems having many degrees of freedom. Journal of the
Acoustical Society America 1977;62(2):37581.
[17] Young TH, Liou GT. Coriolis eect on the vibration of a cantilever plate with time-varying rotating speed. ASME,
Journal of Vibration and Acoustics 1992;114:23241.
[18] Young TH. Dynamic response of a pretwisted, tapered beam with non-constant rotating speed. Journal of Sound and
Vibration 1991;150(3):43546.
[19] Liao CL, Huang BW. Parametric resonance of a spinning pretwisted beam with time-dependent spinning rate. Journal
of Sound and Vibration 1995;180(1):4765.

Spindle Analysis

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Spindle Analysis

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Available online at www.sciencedirect.

Corresponding author. Fax: +886-7-733-7100.

(:, t)]} d:. (2)

Fig. 3. Frequency responses of a rotating spindle with ball or gas bearings,

You might also like