Journal of Sound and Vibration 332 (2013) 27952807

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Journal of Sound and Vibration

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jsvi

On the nite element modeling of the asymmetric

cracked rotor
Mohammad A. AL-Shudeifat n
Aerospace Engineering, Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, UAE

a r t i c l e i n f o

abstract

Article history:
Received 1 October 2011
Received in revised form
8 November 2012
Accepted 24 December 2012
Handling Editor: H. Ouyang
Available online 24 January 2013

The advanced phase of the breathing crack in the heavy duty horizontal rotor system is
expected to be dominated by the open crack state rather than the breathing state after a
short period of operation. The reason for this scenario is the expected plastic deformation
in crack location due to a large compression stress eld appears during the continuous
shaft rotation. Based on that, the nite element modeling of a cracked rotor system with
a transverse open crack is addressed here. The cracked rotor with the open crack model
behaves as an asymmetric shaft due to the presence of the transverse edge crack. Hence,
the time-varying area moments of inertia of the cracked section are employed in
formulating the periodic nite element stiffness matrix which yields a linear timeperiodic system. The harmonic balance method (HB) is used for solving the nite element
(FE) equations of motion for studying the dynamic behavior of the system. The behavior
of the whirl orbits during the passage through the subcritical rotational speeds of the
open crack model is compared to that for the breathing crack model. The presence of the
open crack with the unbalance force was found only to excite the 1/2 and 1/3 of the
backward critical whirling speed. The whirl orbits in the neighborhood of these
subcritical speeds were found to have nearly similar behavior for both open and
breathing crack models. While unlike the breathing crack model, the subcritical forward
whirling speeds have not been observed for the open crack model in the response to the
unbalance force. As a result, the behavior of the whirl orbits during the passage through
the forward subcritical rotational speeds is found to be enough to distinguish the
breathing crack from the open crack model. These whirl orbits with inner loops that
appear in the neighborhood of the forward subcritical speeds are then a unique property
for the breathing crack model.
& 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Structural health monitoring
Cracked rotor modeling
Damage detection
Rotor damage

1. Introduction
Rotordynamic systems have wide application in power generation, aircraft engines, compressors, pumps and in many
other industrial elds. They mostly operate in a heavy loading environment where damage due to fatigue cracks or failure
is always expected to occur. Finding an efcient technique that helps in detecting damage in its early phase is a promising
area of research. This may help in preventing further damage to occur and in saving life and equipment. In the literature,
damage has mostly been characterized by propagating cracks. The breathing and the open transverse crack models are
considered as the main causes of the damage in rotor systems. Identifying the vibration signature of the damaged rotor

Tel.: 971 2 5018564; fax: 971 2 4472442.

E-mail address: mohd.shudeifat@kustar.ac.ae

0022-460X/$ - see front matter & 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsv.2012.12.026

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M.A. AL-Shudeifat / Journal of Sound and Vibration 332 (2013) 27952807

system requires nding efcient tools for modeling the different types of the cracks which may help in studying the actual
dynamic behavior of the cracked system. If the dynamic behavior of the cracked rotor system can be identied via a correct
theoretical model that can be experimentally veried then the vibration signature in the real life applications can be
approximated. In this study, efforts have been made to add improvements for the previous models to achieve the common
goal for nding more efcient techniques in damage detection.
The common technique for formulating the nite element stiffness of the cracked rotor is the exibility matrix method
[19]. This technique was used in [1] for studying the effect of the coupling between the longitudinal and bending
vibration of a cracked rotor system with an open transverse crack. It was also used in [2] for studying the same issue of a
cracked rotor system with two breathing cracks. Similarly, the nite element stiffness matrix of the cracked element of a
cracked rotor was determined in [39] using the exibility matrix method. As a result, the nite element model (FEM) was
formulated and solved for studying the dynamic behavior of the cracked rotor system.
Another form for the nite element stiffness matrix, which is similar to that of an asymmetric rod in space in [10], was
used in modeling the cracked rotor with a breathing crack model in [1116]. As a result, the time-varying stiffness matrix
of the cracked rotor was formulated based on the use of the classical breathing function that proposed in [17]. The Finite
element model was solved by the harmonic balance method for the vibration amplitudes, whirl orbits and the shift in the
critical and the subcritical rotational speeds.
The dynamic behavior of the whirl orbits in the neighborhood of the subcritical rotational speeds or during the passage
through these speeds was studied in [16,1826] for a cracked rotor with a breathing crack model. The transfer matrix
method was used in [18,19] for deriving the stiffness matrix of the cracked rotor. The whirl orbit reversal during the
passage through the critical and the subcritical rotational speeds was noticed in [19]. The whirl orbit with one inner loop
appears during the passage through 1/2 of the critical rotational speed and it was found to be sensitive to the unbalance
force direction [16,2426]. A review of some previous techniques for modeling the open and the breathing crack models
and the different methods of solution were introduced in [27].
The nite element modeling of the open crack is addressed here. This crack model could be a cut or an advanced phase
of a breathing crack. The crack starts to propagate at a location where the elastic properties of the shaft at that location are
subjected to change. This leads to a reduction in the stiffness where the synchronous breathing of the crack between
compression and tension stress elds on the crack faces of contact may lead to a permanent plastic deformation by which
the breathing mechanism becomes dominated by the permanently open crack state. This change in the crack state to a
permanently open state changes the crack signature which is expected to be distinguished from the breathing crack
signature.
The time-varying nite element stiffness matrix of the cracked element is derived here based on the transformation of
the constant stiffness matrix of the rod in space in [10] from the rotating coordinates into the xed coordinates. The timevarying transformation matrix is also derived for performing this transformation. The resulting time-varying stiffness
matrix of the cracked element was found to include the effect of the time-varying cross-coupling stiffness. The results of
including the time-varying cross-coupling stiffness are compared with the results when the cross-coupling stiffness is
ignored where it is found that ignoring this cross-coupling stiffness signicantly affects the whirl orbits behavior during
the passage through the subcritical speeds.
The open crack model of the cracked rotor is compared in this study with the breathing crack model in the literature
based on the whirl orbits behavior at the neighborhood of the subcritical rotational speeds. It is found that the whirl orbit
behavior for the breathing crack model is necessarily enough to distinguish between the open crack and the breathing
crack models during the passage through the forward subcritical rotational speeds.

2. Modeling of the rotor-bearing-disk system

The nite element method is employed in formulating the equations of motion of the rotor system shown in Fig. 1.
The nite element equations of motion of the N-elements rotor with N 1 nodes are given in matrix form as [16, 2830]
C G qt
_ Kqt Fu t Fg
M qt

(1)
y
i

where qt qT1 qT2 . . .qTi . . . qTN 1 T is the 4(N 1)  1 dimensional nodal displacement vector, qTi t ui vi jxi j is the
single node displacement vector of the translational and rotational displacements about the stationary axes in the bearing
center for i 1,2,y,N 1, Fu(t) is the 4(N 1)  1 unbalance force vector, and Fg is the 4(N 1)  1 gravity force vector
[15,28,29]. The M, K, C and G are the global mass, stiffness, damping, and gyroscopic matrices, respectively, of the intact
shaft where each is of dimension 4(N 1)  4(N 1) as in [15,28,29]. Each rigid disk is placed at the selected node and its

...

N1

Fig. 1. Finite element model of the rotor.

M.A. AL-Shudeifat / Journal of Sound and Vibration 332 (2013) 27952807

2797

center has the same nodal displacement vector of the node. The bearings can be either journal or ball bearings. The nodal
equations of motion of the disk and the equations of forces for the bearing nodes are also found in [15,28,29].

3. Finite element model of a cracked rotor system with an open crack

The open transverse crack is modeled as shown in Fig. 2 where the dashed segment represents the crack segment. The
crack is assumed at angle f relative to the xed negative Y-axis at t 0 as shown in Fig. 2a. As the shaft rotates the crack
angle with the negative Y-axis changes with time to f Ot as shown in Fig. 2b, where O is the rotational speed of the rotor.
The angle f is selected to be equal to zero in the following analysis.
The area moments of inertia of the cracked element about its centroidal x- and y-axes are constant quantities during the
rotation of the shaft while the area moments of inertia of the cracked element about its xed centroidal X- and Y-axes are
time-varying quantities during the rotation of the shaft. The axes X and Y remain parallel to the stationary X- and Y-axes
during rotation. The cracked element stiffness matrix in the rotating x- and y-axes can be written in a form similar to that
of the asymmetric rod in space in [10].
The centroidal area moments of inertia of the cracked element about the X- and Y-axes are IX t and IY t, respectively.
From [10], the time-varying area moments of inertia IX t, IY t and IX Y t about the centroidal X- and Y-axes during the
shaft rotation are given in terms of centroidal area moments of inertias Ix and Iy in the rotating x- and y-axes as [10]
IX t

Ix Iy Ix Iy

cos2Ot Ix y sin2Ot
2
2

(2a)

I Y t

Ix Iy Ix Iy

cos2Ot Ix y sin2Ot
2
2

(2b)

I X Y t 

Ix Iy
sin2Ot Ix y cos2Ot
2

(2c)

where Ix Ix Ace e2 , Iy Iy , Ix and Iy are the area moments of inertia of the cracked element cross-section about the rotating
x- and y-axes, Ace is the area of the cracked element cross-section and e is its centroid location on the y-axis. Since y is the
axis of symmetry of the cracked element cross-sectional area during rotation, then Ixy 0. The quantities Ace and e have
been derived in [16] as
p
(3a)
Ace R2 pcos1 1m 1m m2m

2R3
m2m3=2
3Ace

(3b)

Fig. 2. Schematic diagrams of the cracked element cross-section (a) before rotation, (b) after shaft rotates. The dashed area represents the crack segment.

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M.A. AL-Shudeifat / Journal of Sound and Vibration 332 (2013) 27952807

The area moments of inertia Ix and Iy of the cracked element cross-section about the rotating x- and y-axes, respectively,
have also been derived in [16] for 0 r m r1 as
Ix

pR4
4

pR4

R4
1m2m2 4m 1g sin1 1m
4

(4a)



 
R4 
1m 2m2 4m3 g 3sin1 g
12

(4b)
4

q


where g m 2m , m h/R is the non-dimensional crack depth and h is the crack depth in the radial direction of
the shaft.
The nite element stiffness matrix of the rod in space in [10] is used to express the jth cracked element stiffness matrix
in the rotating coordinates as
2
3
12Ix
0
0
6lIx
12lIx
0
0
6lIx
6 0
12Iy
6lIy
0
0
12Iy 6lIy
0 7
6
7
6
7
2
2
6
7
6lIy 4l Iy
0
0
6lIy
2l Iy
0 7
6 0
6
7
6
7
2
2
6lIx
0
0
4l Ix
6lIx
0
0
2l Ix 7
E6
j
7
kR 3 6
(5)
6
0
0
6lIx
12Ix
0
0
6lIx 7
l 6 12lIx
7
6
7
12Iy
6lIy
0
0
12Iy
6lIy
0 7
6 0
6
7
6
7
2
2
6 0
6lIy 2l Iy
0
0
6lIy
4l Iy
0 7
4
5
2
2
6lIx
0
0
2l Ix
6lIx
0
0
4l Ix
Iy

the cracked element stiffness matrix kF in the xed coordinates is found via the transformation
j

kF WT kR W

(6)

where W is the transformation matrix of dimension 8  8. This transformation matrix is derived based on the coordinate
transformation shown in Fig. 3.
For the nodal displacement vector qT(t) [u v jx jy] of the left node of the element j in the rotating coordinate system
Oxyz, jx and jy have the following relationships [28, 29]:

jx 

@vy
,
@w

jy

@ux
@w

(7)

the coordinate system OXYZ is rotated by Ot about z-axis which yields the rotating coordinate system Oxyz. Hence, u and v
in the xed coordinate system OXYZ can be written as

u ux cosOtvy sinOt

(8a)

v ux sinOt vy cosOt

(8b)

hence, j and j in the xed coordinate system have the following relationships:

jX 
jY

@vy
@v
@ux

sinOt 
cosOt jx cosOt jy sinOt
@w
@w
@w


 @vy
@u
@ux

cos Ot j 
sinOt jx sinOt jy cosOt
@w
@w
@w

Fig. 3. The xed and rotating coordinate systems at jth rotor element (left node).

(9a)
(9b)

M.A. AL-Shudeifat / Journal of Sound and Vibration 332 (2013) 27952807

2799

as a result, the transformation matrix that transforms the stiffness from the rotating x- and y-axes to the xed X- and Yaxes in Fig. 3 or the rotating x- and y-axes to the xed X- and Y-axes in Fig. 2 is given as
2

cosOt

6
6 sinOt
6
6
0
6
6
0
6
W6
6
0
6
6
6
0
6
6
0
4
0

sinOt

cosOt

cosOt

sinOt

sinOt

cosOt

cosOt

sinOt

7
7
7
7
0
7
7
0
7
7
7
0
7
7
0
7
7
sinOt 7
5
cosOt
0

sinOt

cosOt

0
0

0
0

0
0

0
0

0
0

cosOt
sinOt

(10)

the application of Eq. (6) with Eq. (10) yields the time-varying stiffness matrix of the cracked element in the xed X- and
Y-axes which is given as
j

kF ka kb

(11)

where
2

12IX t

6
0
6
6
6
0
6
6
6 6lI t
6
E
X
j
ka 3 6
6
l 6 12lIX t
6
0
6
6
6
0
6
4
6lIX t
2

0
6 12I t
6
XY
6
6 6lI t
6
XY
6
6
0
E6
j
kb 3 6
6
0
l 6
6
t
12I
6
XY
6
6
6 6lIXY t
4
0

6lIX t

12lIX t

12IY t

6lIY t

12IY t

6lIY t

4l IY t

6lIY t

6lIX t

6lIY t

2l IY t

4l IX t

6lIX t

6lIX t

12IX t

12IY t

6lIY t

12IY t

6lIY t

6lIY t

2l IY t

6lIY t

4l IY t

2l IX t

6lIX t

0
6lIXY t

12IXY t
0

6lIXY t
0

12IXY t
0

12IXY t

7
7
7
7
0
7
7
2
2l IX t 7
7
7
6lIX t 7
7
7
0
7
7
7
0
7
5
2
4l IX t
0

0
2

6lIXY t
0

4l IXY t

6lIXY t

6lIXY t

4l IXY t

6lIXY t

2l IXY t

12IXY t

6lIXY t

12IXY t

6lIXY t

6lIXY t

12IXY t

6lIXY t

0
6lIXY t

2l IXY t

2l IXY t

6lIXY t

4l IXY t

3
0
6lIXY t 7
7
7
2
2l IXY t 7
7
7
7
0
7
7
7
0
7
7
6lIXY t 7
7
7
2
4l IXY t 7
5
0

(12)

(13)

where IX t, IY t and IX Y t have the same formulas in Eqs. (2a)(2b). In addition, the cracked element stiffness matrix in
the xed X and Y coordinates in Eq. (11) can be rewritten as
j

kF k1 k2 cos2Ot k3 sin2Ot
j

(14)

the stiffness matrices k1 , k2 and k3 are given as

2

12I1

6
6 0
6
6 0
6
6
6lI1
E6
j
k1 3 6
6
l 6 12lI1
6
6 0
6
6 0
4
6lI1

6lI1

12lI1

12I1

6lI1

12I1

6lI1
2

6lI1

4l I1

6lI1

2l I1

0
0

0
0

4l I1
6lI1

6lI1
12I1

0
0

0
0

12I1

6lI1

12I1

6lI1

6lI1

2l I1

6lI1

4l I1

6lI1

2l I1

6lI1

7
7
7
0 7
7
7
2
2l I1 7
7
6lI1 7
7
7
0 7
7
0 7
5
2
4l I1
0

(15a)

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M.A. AL-Shudeifat / Journal of Sound and Vibration 332 (2013) 27952807

12I2
6
6 0
6
6 0
6
6
6lI2
E6
j
k2 3 6
6 12lI2
l 6
6
6 0
6
6 0
4
6lI2
2

6lI2

12lI2

6lI2

12I3

6lI3

12I3

6lI3
2

6lI3

4l I3

6lI3

2l I3

4l I2

6lI2

6lI2

12I2

12I3

6lI3

12I3

6lI3

6lI3
0

2l I3
0

0
2
2l I2

0
6lI2

6lI3
0

4l I3
0

12I2

6lI2

12I2

6lI2

7
7
7
0 7
7
7
2
2l I2 7
7
6lI2 7
7
7
0 7
7
0 7
5
2
4l I2
0

(15b)

6
7
0
0
6lI2
12I2
0
0
6lI2 7
6 12I2
6
7
2
2
6 6lI2
0
0
4l I2 6lI2
0
0
2l I2 7
6
7
6
7
2
2
0
6lI2 4l I2
0
0
6lI2
2l I2
0 7
E6
j
7
(15c)
k3 3 6
6
6lI2
0
0
12I2 6lI2
0 7
12I2
l 6 0
7
6
7
6 12I2
0
0
6lI2
12I2
0
0
6lI2 7
6
7
2
2
6 6lI
0
0
2l I2 6lI2
0
0
4l I2 7
2
4
5
2
2
0
6lI2 2l I2
0
0
6lI2
4l I2
0






where I1 1=2 Ix Iy , I2 1=2 Ix Iy , I3 I2, Ix and Iy are all constant quantities during the rotation of the cracked
j
shaft. The matrix k3 includes the effect of the cross-coupling area moment of inertia IX Y t on the cracked rotor.
As a result, the FEM equations of motion of the rotor-bearing-system with an open crack model are rewritten as
C^ qt
_ K1 K2 cos2Ot K3 sin2Otqt F1 cos Ot F2 sin Ot Fg
M qt

(16)
j
k1

where K1 is the 4(N 1)  4(N 1) stiffness matrix of which the entries of the cracked element stiffness matrix
are
merged instead of the uncracked element entries of element j in K [15,28,29], K2 and K3 are 4(N 1)  4(N 1) stiffness
j
j
matrices of zero entries except at the cracked element where the entries are equal to k2 in K2 and k3 in K3, F1 and F2 are
^
the vectors of the unbalance force amplitudes [15], and C G C is a combination of the gyroscopic and damping matrices.
The solution of the system in Eq. (16) is expressed as a nite Fourier series as
qt A0

n
X

Ak coskOt Bk sinkOt

(17)

k1

inserting this solution into Eq. (16) yields

2

K1

6 O
6
6
6 O
6
6
6 K2
6
6
6 K3
6
6
6 O
6
6
6 O
6
6
6 O
6
6
6 O
6
6 ^
6
6
6 O
4
O



H m, O 

0:5K2

0:5K3



C2

C3



C1
1 C3

C1
1 C3
C1 C2

C3

C2



C2

C2
1

C2

C3

&

C2

C2
1

C3

C2

&

C2

C3

C3

C3
1

&

C3

C2

C3
1

C3

&

C2

C2

C3

C4

C4
1

&

C3

C3

C2

C4
1

C4

&

&

&

&

&

&

&

&



C2

C3

Cn



C3

C2

Cn
1

2
3 2 3
A0
Fg
O 7
76
6 7
7 6 A1 7
F
7 6 17
7 6 7
O 7
76
6 7
B1 7
76
6
7 6 F2 7
O 7
6
6 7
7 6 A2 7
60 7
7
76
7 6 7
7
^ 76 B 2 7 6 0 7
7 6 7
76
6
7 6 7
O 7
A3 7 6 0 7
76
6
76 7
76
6 7
B3 7
C3 7
7 60 7
76
7 6 7
76
6
60 7
7
A
4
C2 7
7 6 7
76
7 60 7
76
B
47
6 7
O 76
7 6 7
76
6 ^ 7 6 ^ 7
6
6 7
7
O 7
76
6 7
74 An 7
5 40 5
7
Cn
1 5
Bn
0
Cn

(18)

where C2 (1/2)K2, C3 (1/2)K3, C(j) K1  (jO)2M and C1j jOC^ for j 1,2,. . .,n, and n is the number of harmonics used.
Eq. (17) is solved for A0, Ak and Bk for k 1,2,. . .,n.
4. Theoretical results for the open crack model
The rotor-bearing-disk system is divided into 12 elements as shown in Fig. 4 where the crack location is assumed to be
in element 3 where the length of this cracked element is equal to 60.3 mm. The damping matrix of the shaft is assumed to
be equal to zero while the damping of the bearings in Table 1 is the only damping included for simulation. Two disks are
attached to nodes 3 and 11. The mass unbalance me is attached to the left disk at an angle b relative to the positive X-axis

M.A. AL-Shudeifat / Journal of Sound and Vibration 332 (2013) 27952807

2801

at distance d from the shaft centerline. The values of the physical parameters of the system are given in Table 1. The HB
solution is used to generate the results for the whirl orbits and the shift in the critical and subcritical speeds.
To distinguish between the critical forward and backward whirling rotational speeds, anisotropic bearings are used
for the system in Fig. 4 with kxx 5  107 N/m and kyy 7  107 N/m. The anisotropic bearings are only used here for the
results in Fig. 5 while isotropic bearings are used for all following cases. It is clear from Fig. 5 that the critical forward whirl
speed of1 2884.5 rev/min appears before the critical backward whirl speed ob1 3043 rev/min when anisotropic
bearings are used. Similarly, as the crack starts to appear for the asymmetric shaft with a transverse open crack and
isotropic bearings of kxx kyy 7  107 N/m the critical backward speed is also excited at ob1 3043 rev/min when m-0 as
shown in the waterfall plot in Fig. 6. For the asymmetric cracked shaft with isotropic bearing or the symmetric intact shaft
with anisotropic bearings, the rst forward and backward whirl speeds have been excited by the unbalance force.
The appearance of the open transverse crack is found to only excite the 1/2 and 1/3 of the rst backward critical speed
and as shown in Figs. 79. The rst pair of the critical forward and backward whirling rotational speeds and their
corresponding subcritical rotational speeds are shown in Fig. 8 for m 0.3 where the signicance of including K3 which
include the effect of IX Y in the cracked element stiffness matrix is shown. If K3 is not included in the cracked element
stiffness matrix, extra sub-harmonics appear as shown in Fig. 8 which are more familiar with the breathing crack model
than the open crack model [16]. These extra harmonics do not appear when IX Y is included in the crack element stiffness
matrix even at high crack depth as shown in Fig. 9.
The whirl orbits during the passage through the 1/2 and 1/3 of the rst backward critical speed which are excited by the
open transverse crack are plotted in Figs. 10 and 11. The whirl orbit with three outer loops appears in the neighborhood of
the 1/2 of the rst backward whirl speeds reverses its direction during the passage through this subcritical whirl speed.
The whirl orbit with four outer loops that appears during the passage through 1/3 of the backward critical speed is found

Fig. 4. Finite element model of the rotor-bearing-disk system.

Table 1
Physical parameters of the rotor-bearing-disk system.
Description

Value

Description

Value

Length of the rotor, L

Radius of the rotor, R
Density of rotor, r
Modulus of elasticity, E
Bearing stiffness (kxx kyy)
Bearing damping (cxx cyy)

0.724 m
7.9 mm
7800 kg/m3
2.1  1011 N/m2
7  107 N/m
5  102 N s/m

Disk outer radius, Ro

Disk inner radius, Ri
Density of disk, r
Mass of the disk, md
Mass unbalance, med2
Mass unbalance angle, b

76.2 mm
7.9 mm
2700 kg/m3
0.571 kg
10  3 kg m2
p/2 rad

Fig. 5. The rst critical forward and backward whirling rotational speeds of the bearing-disk-system with anisotropic bearings of kxx 5  107 N/m and
kyy 7  107 N/m based on the vibration amplitudes at node 7.

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M.A. AL-Shudeifat / Journal of Sound and Vibration 332 (2013) 27952807

b1

f1

Fig. 6. Waterfall of the shift in the forward and backward critical whirling speeds of the rotor-bearing-disk-system versus crack depth for
med2 5  10  4 kg m2 based on the vibration amplitudes at node 7.

1
1
3

b1

b1

Fig. 7. Waterfall of the shift in the 1/2 of the rst backward critical whirling speed and 1/3 of the rst forward critical whirl speed of the rotor-bearingdisk-system versus crack depth for med2 5  10  4 kg m2 based on the vibration amplitudes at node 7.

f1
1
b1
4

1
b1
3

1
f1
2

b1

1
b1
2

Fig. 8. The vibration amplitudes of node 2 versus the rotational speed for m 0.3, b p/2 and med2 5  10  4 kg m2 based on the vibration amplitudes at
node 7 where 6 harmonics are used in the HB solution.

1
b1
3

1
b1
2

f1
b1

Fig. 9. The vibration amplitudes of node 2 versus the rotational speed for m 0.75, b p/2 and med2 5  10  4 kg m2 based on the vibration amplitudes
at node 7 where 6 harmonics are used in the HB solution.

to be rotated by 451 during the passage through this subcritical speed. These orbits have nearly similar behavior and shape
to those of the breathing crack model in [16,19] during the passage through these subcritical backward whirl speeds.
Unlike the breathing crack model in [16,19,2226], the open crack model is found to be not exciting the subcritical forward
whirl speeds. Hence, the whirl orbits with inner loops which appear during the passage through the forward subcritical
speeds are unique signature for the breathing crack model compared to the open crack model.

M.A. AL-Shudeifat / Journal of Sound and Vibration 332 (2013) 27952807

=1482 rpm

=1485 rpm

=1488 rpm

=1491 rpm

2803

=1494 rpm

Fig. 10. The whirl orbits of node 2 during the passage through the subcritical backward whirl speed 1/2ob1 1488 rev/min for med2 5  10  3 kg m2,
m 0.3 and b 0.

=978 rpm

=984 rpm

=988 rpm

=992 rpm

=998 rpm

Fig. 11. The whirl orbits of node 2 during the passage through the subcritical backward whirl speed (1/3ob1 988 rev/min) for med2 5  10  3 kg m2,
m 0.3 and b 0.

=2975 rpm

=2985 rpm

=2990rpm

=2995 rpm

=3005 rpm

Fig. 12. The whirl orbits of node 2 during the passage through the rst critical backward whirl speed ob1 2990 rev/min for med2 5  10  3 kg m2,
m 0.3 and b 0.

med2=0.01 kg.m2

med2=0.005 kg.m2

med2=0.001 kg.m2

med2=104 kg.m2

med2=104 kg.m2

Fig. 13. The effect of the unbalance mass on the whirl orbit of node 2 during the passage through the 1/2 rst critical backward whirl speed at
O 1482 rev/min for m 0.3 and b 0.

The whirl orbits during the passage through the rst backward critical whirl speed are plotted in Fig. 12. It is interesting
to notice that these orbits have the same shape and behavior as the whirl orbits at the 1/3 of this critical backward whirl
speed as previously shown in Fig. 11.
The effect of the unbalance mass on the three outer loops whirl orbit that appear during the passage through the 1/2 of
the rst critical backward whirl speed is shown in Fig. 13. It is shown that these loops disappear at relatively high
unbalance force as shown in Fig. 13a and b where the whirl orbit has nearly an egg-shaped. In addition, for small
unbalance mass, the centers of these loops converge to main center of the whole whirl orbit as shown in Fig. 13e.
The initial crack angle f at t 0 has no effect on the whirl orbit as long as the relative angle Dy b  f between the
crack orientation and the unbalance force direction remains constant during the rotation. For a xed crack angle f the
whirl orbits are sensitive to the change in the unbalance force direction as shown in Fig. 14. If the unbalance force angle b

2804

M.A. AL-Shudeifat / Journal of Sound and Vibration 332 (2013) 27952807

 =  /2

 =  /4

 =0

 =  /4

 = /2

Fig. 14. The effect of the unbalance force angle b on the whirl orbit of node 2 at O 1482 rev/min for m 0.6 and med2 5  10  3 kg m.

Fig. 15. The MFS-RDS Spectra-Quest rotordynamic simulator used for experimental analysis.

is changed to b 7 x the whirl orbit rotates by 72x from its original position as shown in the gure. This behavior is also
observed in [26] for the whirl orbit of a cracked system with two open transverse cracks. This observation may help in
detecting the crack based on the sensitivity of the orbits in the neighborhood of the subcritical rotational speeds to the
unbalance force direction.

5. Experimental results for the open crack model

The Spectra-Quest MFS-RDS rotordynamic simulator, shown in Fig. 15, was used for nding the experimental time
histories for the whirl amplitudes and orbits near to node 2 and node 11 of the nite element model shown in Fig. 4 in the
neighborhood of the critical and subcritical whirl speeds. The physical parameters of the MFS-RDS rotordynamic simulator
have been previously given in Table 1. Two sets of proximity probes have been installed. The rst set of two perpendicular
proximity probes is installed at the left side of the shaft near to the left bearing (close to node 2) while the other set is
installed at the right side of the shaft near to the right bearing (close to node 11) as shown in the picture in Fig. 15. These
sets measure the horizontal and vertical displacements at each side of the shaft. The whirl amplitude is calculated as
q
2
2
Z u^ v^ where u^ is the reading of the rst probe while v^ is the reading of the second probe which is perpendicular to
the rst one in the same set. The readings of the proximity probes were collected at a frequency of 10 kH for 10 s of shaft
rotation at a xed rotational speed.
The wavelet transform [31] is used to explore the frequency content in the signal in the neighborhood of the rst
critical speed and its corresponding subcritical speed (  1/2 of this critical speed). For a rotor speed O 2906 rev/min in
the neighborhood of the rst critical speed for m 0.36, the experimental data of the whirl amplitudes obtained by the left
set of the proximity probes are plotted in Fig. 16a where no ltration was used for these data. The corresponding frequency
contents in Fig. 16b are normalized to the rotor speed itself (O 2906 rev/min). It is clear from this gure that the sub and
super harmonic frequency components of  1/2, 2/2,  3/2 and  4/2 of O appear in the signal due to the appearance of
the open crack.
For a rotor speed O 1537 rev/min in the neighborhood of the 1/2 of the rst critical speed for m 0.36, the
experimental data of the whirl amplitudes obtained by the right set of the proximity probes are plotted in Fig. 17a where
no ltration was used for these data. The corresponding frequency contents in Fig. 17b are also normalized to the rotor
speed itself (O 1537 rev/min). It is clear from this gure that the sub and super harmonic frequency components of  1/2,
 2/2,  3/2,  4/2 and 5/2 of O appear in the signal due to the appearance of the open crack. Even though the data of the
right set of the proximity probes at O 1537 rev/min has a big noise as shown in Fig. 18a, the corresponding wavelet
transform in Fig. 18b still capable to capture similar frequency content to that in Fig. 17b which is for the data with a very
small noise. As a result, the wavelet transform is found to perform well even with data of big noise.
The experimental whirl orbits in Fig. 19 were found to be very close to the theoretical egg-shape whirl orbit that
previously shown in Fig. 13a and b in the neighborhood of 1/2 of the critical backward whirl speed. In addition, the whirl
orbit reversal during the passage through the 1/2 of the rst critical whirl speed is clearly noticed in Fig. 19f and g. Hence,
the 1/2 of the rst critical backward whirl speed is experimentally expected to be between O 1444 rev/min and
O 1500 rev/min for m 0.48. As a result, the open crack model is found theoretically and experimentally to excite the 1/2
of the subcritical backward whirl speed.

M.A. AL-Shudeifat / Journal of Sound and Vibration 332 (2013) 27952807

2805

 = 2906 rpm (48.438 Hz)

Fig. 16. (a) Time histories of the vibration amplitudes of the signal in the neighborhood of the rst critical whirl speeds measured by the left side
proximity probes and (b) the corresponding wavelet transform of the normalized frequency contents for m 0.36 and med2 1  10  3 kg m2.

 = 1537 rpm (25.6 Hz)

Fig. 17. (a) Time histories of the vibration amplitudes in the neighborhood of 1/2 of the rst critical whirl speeds measured by the left side proximity
probes and (b) the corresponding wavelet transform of the normalized frequency contents for m 0.36 and med2 1  10  3 kg m2.

 = 1537 rpm (25.6 Hz)

Fig. 18. (a) Time histories of the vibration amplitudes in the neighborhood of 1/2 of the rst critical whirl speeds measured by the right side proximity
probes and (b) the corresponding wavelet transform of the normalized frequency contents for m 0.36 and at med2 1  10  3 kg m2.

6. Conclusions
In this study the nite element model of the time-varying stiffness matrix is introduced for a cracked rotor with an
open transverse crack. The harmonic balance method is used here for solving the time-varying nite element equations of
motion of the cracked rotor for critical and subcritical harmonic analysis. The well-known whirl orbits with inner loops
that appear in the neighborhood of the subcritical forward whirl speeds with the breathing crack model are not observed
here for the open transverse crack model. The appearance of the open crack is found to excite the backward critical and
subcritical whirl speeds where the whirl orbits with the outer loops appear during the passage through these subcritical
speeds. In addition, the whirl orbit reversal is observed theoretically and experimentally during the passage through the 1/2

2806

M.A. AL-Shudeifat / Journal of Sound and Vibration 332 (2013) 27952807

 =1444 rpm

 =1481 rpm

 =1500 rpm

 =1519 rpm

 =1406 rpm

 =1444 rpm

 =1500 rpm

 =1538 rpm

Fig. 19. Experimental whirl orbits of node 2 in the neighborhood of the 1/2 backward critical whirl speed for unbalance med2 1  10  3 kg m2, f 0 rad,
b p/2 rad, (a)(d) for m 0.36, (e)(h) for m 0.48.

Fig. A1. The 23 elements model of the cracked shaft.

of the critical backward whirl speed for the open crack model. Hence, the experimental results have shown that the open
crack model excites the backward subcritical whirl.
Furthermore, the whirl orbits in the neighborhood of the critical backward whirl speed are also found to have the same
shape and behavior of those appear in the neighborhood of the 1/3 of this critical backward whirl speed. However, it is
veried here that the whirl orbits with inner loops are a unique signature for the breathing crack rather than the
open crack.
In addition, the whirl orbits in the neighborhood of the subcritical backward whirl have the same shape and behavior
for both breathing and open crack models. These whirl orbits are found to be sensitive to the unbalance force direction. For
a constant relative angle between the crack orientation and the unbalance force direction, the initial orientation of the
crack has no effect on the orientation of the whirl orbits, the shift in the critical and subcritical speeds and the vibration
amplitudes during rotation.

Acknowledgment
Prof. Alexander Vakakis group at the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign is highly acknowledged for the help in
using the wavelet Matlab code in this paper.

Appendix A
For the 12 elements model, previously shown in Fig. 3, the cracked element length was 60.3 mm. For the 24 elements
model the cracked element length is maintained to be 60.3 mm which reduces the total number of elements to 23 as
shown in Fig. A1 since this crack length spans through two elements of the 24 elements model. Fixing the crack element
length while increasing the number of elements to greater than 12 elements has found to have slight effect on the
convergence as shown in Fig. A2 where the critical forward and backward whirling amplitudes are plotted versus the shaft
rotating speed for m 0.3.

M.A. AL-Shudeifat / Journal of Sound and Vibration 332 (2013) 27952807

2807

Fig. A2. The vibration amplitudes of node 2 versus the rotational speed for m 0.3, b p/2 and at med2 1  10  3 kg m2 for the 12 and 13 elements
models.

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