Dynamic stability of two rigid rotors connected by a flexible coupling with angular misalignment

The effect of misalignment on the stability of two rotors connected by a flexible mechanical coupling subjected to angular misalignment is examined. The study performed is to understand the effect of angular misalignment on the stability of rotating machinery. The dimensionless stability criteria of the non-linear system of differential equations of two misaligned rigid rotors are derived using Liapunov's direct method. A rigid disk is attached at the middle of each rotor, where the rotor-disk assembly is mounted on two hydrodynamic bearings with four stiffness and four damping coefficients. Sets of dimensionless conditions for sufficient whirl stability of the two misaligned rotors are derived. The stability conditions are presented in graphical form for deeper understanding of the effect of the flexible mechanical coupling stiffness and angular misalignment on rotating machinery stability. The results show that an increase in angular misalignment or mechanical coupling stiffness terms leads to an increase of the model stability region. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.