Unbalance Estimation for a Large Flexible Rotor Using Force and Displacement Minimization

Mass unbalance is one of the most prominent faults that occurs in rotating machines. The identification of unbalance in the case of large flexible rotors is crucial because in industrial applications such as paper machines and roll grinders, high vibrations can adversely affect the quality of the end product. The objective of this research is to determine the unbalance location, magnitude and phase for a large flexible rotor with few measured coordinates. To this end, an established force-based method comprising of modal expansion and equivalent load minimization is applied. Due to the anisotropic behavior of the test rotor, the force method required at least six measured coordinates to predict the unbalance with an error of 4 to 36%. To overcome this limitation, an alternate method, eliminating the use of modal expansion, is proposed. Here, displacements generated by varying the location of a reference unbalance along the rotor axis, are compared to measured displacements to detect the unbalance location. Furthermore, instead of force-based fault models, the minimization of displacements at measured locations determines the unbalance parameters. The test case in this study is the guiding roll of a paper machine and its different unbalance states. The algorithm is tested initially with a simulation-based model and then validated with an experimental set up. The results show that the displacement method can locate the unbalance close to the actual location and it can predict the unbalance magnitude and phase with only two measured coordinates. Lastly, using measured data from 15 measurement points across the tube section of the test rotor, a comparison shows how the selection of the two measured locations affects the estimation accuracy.