Torsional vibration problems are more severe in reciprocating compressors and engines due to

more torsional excitations compared rotating like turbines and pumps. It causes twisting of
shaft when it is rotating. Excessive torsional vibration can lead to the failure of crankshaft,
couplings, engine dampers and compressor oil pumps. These failure typically occurs at 45deg
to the shaft axis. Generally it is not observed until failures occurs, only if it contains gearbox
then it is observed as it converts torsional vibration to lateral vibration.
Reciprocating machines produce torsional excitations at multiples of running speed, called
harmonics. In case of 4-stroke engines, half order harmonics are also present as all the cylinders
are not firing at a time. Depending on the cylinder phasing, certain orders may cancel out while
others become dominant. A torsional analysis should include up to at least 12 harmonics. The
excitation modes at different harmonic orders depend strongly on the firing order in use.
Changing the firing order may significantly influence the vibration behaviour of an engine or
genset.
Harmonic order 0.5 - Gas force unbalance - Rigid body motion
Harmonic order 1.0 - Mass (inertia) force - Rigid body motion and bending
Harmonic order 2.0 - Mass (inertia) - Bending
Half orders 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 … - Gas force – Torsion
Pulsation, valve failures and load steps will cause the torsional vibration problems in the
compressor and engine misfire, improper balancing, pressure leaks and instability can cause
the similar problems in engines.
If excessive torques can occur during start-up or shut down, transient torsional vibration
analysis is to be conducted. Torsional natural frequencies are independent of operating speed
and it always induce cyclic stresses that can lead to fatigue. Unlike lateral vibrations, torsional
vibration problems usually cannot be corrected by balancing the machine more precisely.
While analysing a simplified spring-mass model of the actual system, the number of nontrivial
natural frequencies that can be obtained is, one less than the number of disks in the model.

Modelling
All significant inertias in the system should be identified as disks. These include impellers,
propellers, motor and generator rotors, gears, and coupling hubs. The choice of the number of
disks to include is usually a compromise. If every single inertia that exists in the assembly were
represented, the modelling and solution time would likely be prohibitive. On the other hand, if
complex turbo machinery trains were modelled as two disk systems, the loss of accuracy would
probably be unacceptable. Another consideration is that the number of natural frequencies that
can be calculated is limited by the number of disks in the model. The analyst must ensure that
enough disks are included such that all natural frequencies that could reasonably be expected
to be excited within the machine's operating speed range are determined.
All disk elements must be assigned a value for mass polar moment of inertia (J) and the
torsional spring rates (T/θ) for the shaft sections which interconnect the disks.
• When a shaft is joined to a non-rigid coupling or impeller by an interference fit, the shaft
should be assumed to twist freely over a length equal to one-third of the overlap. The remainder
of the overlap should be assumed rigid.
• When a shaft is joined to a non-rigid coupling or impeller by a keyed joint, the shaft should
be assumed to twist freely over a length equal to two-thirds of the overlap. The remainder of
the overlap should be assumed rigid.
• Utilization of some solution algorithms requires that shaft elements be assumed massless. If
this is the case, it is usually sufficient to apply one-half of the actual shaft inertia to each of the
disks on either end of the shaft element.
• Couplings should be modelled as a shaft having the coupling's spring rate between two disks
whose inertias are each equal to one half of the coupling's total inertia.
• Flanges should be treated as shaft elements having diameters equal to their bolt-circle
diameters.
• Although gear teeth have inherent flexibility, for most practical cases, they can be considered
to be torsionally rigid. In general, gear tooth flexibility is significant only in the calculation of
very high natural frequencies.
• For gear box, it is customary to convert the parameters to the equivalent values that they
would have if they were all on the lowest speed shaft. The resulting equivalent single shaft
model has exactly the same dynamic characteristics and natural frequencies as the actual
system (analogous to the common practice of combining electrical resistors or mechanical
springs in series or parallel).
• For couplings, torque v/s displacement curve is converted into a curve of coupling spring rate
v/s shaft speed and used for calculation. In case of hydraulic couplings, it can be treated as zero
spring rate elements that effectively divide the assembly into two independent torsional
systems.
A Campbell diagram should always be generated as soon as the undamped analysis is
completed. The natural frequencies are plotted as horizontal lines and the operating speed range
is designated by vertical lines. The upward sloping lines are harmonics of speed that represent
the system's potential excitations. Intersections between these lines and the natural frequency
lines that occur within the operating speed range are referred to as interference points and are
indicators of potential resonances. The speeds corresponding to interference points are known
as critical speeds. The excitations occur at integral multiples of the shaft speed. These
multiples, which represent the number of vibrations which occur during each shaft revolution,
are referred to as order numbers. For any given interference point, the order number is equal to
the natural frequency divided by the critical speed. The most common excitations are at once
per revolution (1X) and twice per revolution (2X). 1X excitations can be generated by
conditions such as rotating unbalance, eccentricity, and misalignment. Excitations of 2X are
usually due to misalignment, ellipticity, or certain non-circular shaft cross-sections such as
keyways.
Gears can produce disturbances at their meshing frequency and higher harmonics of it. For
each shaft, meshing frequency is equal to the number of teeth on that shaft's gear multiplied by
shaft rpm. In case of impellers, torque variations occur at blade-pass frequency due to pressure
disturbances resulting from vanes passing a stationary object such as a volute or diffuser
entrance. The order number for an impeller is, equal to its number of vanes. In marine
applications, the reaction torque from the water varies each time a blade passes the ship's
rudder. Thus, propellers also generate torque fluctuations at blade-pass frequency, usually
larger than in impellers. All of the AC machines are assumed to operate at constant speed.
Motors which are controlled by variable frequency drives (VFD), alter speed by varying the
electrical frequency supplied to the terminals. These drives represent an additional source of
torsional excitation to be considered during the analysis phase.
AC electrical machines (motors, generators) produce 1X and 2X fluctuations at line frequency.
Additionally, many machines create oscillations having an order number equal to the number
of magnetic poles in the machine. In addition to the oscillations produced during steady
running, AC machines generate torque fluctuations when subjected to short circuits across their
terminals. These fluctuations also occur at line and twice line frequency. Induction and
synchronous motors generate large transient torques at line frequency, when power is initially
supplied. AC synchronous motors generate large pulsating torques at twice slip frequency
during starting.
In rotating machineries, damping depends on the modes of vibration. Coulomb damping is
absent during torsional vibrations, as the torque will overcome the friction between the parts.
The magnitude of the damping coefficient is equal to the slope of the torque v/s speed curve.
Different types of damping available in rotating machinery are: Load damping, Wind age
damping, Journal bearing damping, Shaft hysteretic damping, Hydraulic coupling damping,
Speed variation damping, Slip damping.