Wu Hao, Zhou Qiong, Zhang Zhiming and An Qi*
The Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology, vol. 26, no. 3, pp.653-659, 2012

Abstract : Air blowers are widely used in industry. The vibration of the rolling bearing-rotor is a key factor in the blower’s performance because it significantly influences the security and working life of the whole system. In previous research on the vibration characteristics of the air blower, the supporting rolling element bearing was always simplified as a particle on a shaft with radial stiffness and damping coefficient. Such simplification neglects the effects of the bearing structure on the vibration performance of the rotor system. In this paper, a numerical model of the bending stiffness of the tapered roller bearing was established through mechanics and deformation analysis. On the base of the model, a new TMM (transfer matrix method) for bearing-rotor system was established; the new TMM considers the influences of the bearing structure on the vibration of the rotor system. Furthermore, modal analysis on an air blower rotor system was carried out by using the new TMM, and the mode shape, critical speed and unbalance response of the air blower system were obtained. The same blower rotor was also analyzed by FEM to verify the validation of the new TMM, showing that the new method proposed in this paper for vibration characteristics calculation of an air blower is credible.

Keyword : Air blower; Bearing-rotor system; Transfer matrix method; Vibration