MACHINE DESIGN - An Integrated Approach, 4th Ed.

Example 10-8-1

EXAMPLE 10-8

Determining the Critical Frequencies of a Shaft

Problem: Find the shaft whirl and torsional critical frequencies of the shaft in Example 10-2 and
compare them to its forcing frequency.
Given: Refering to Figure 10-5, the shaft and gear are steel, and the sheave is aluminum. Starting
at A, the shaft diameters and lengths are:
A to B d 0  0.875  in lAB  1.5 in
B to C d 1  0.750  in lBC  3.5 in
C to D d 2  0.669  in lCD  1.5 in
D to end d 3  0.531  in lDE  1.5 in
Other dimensions from Figure 10-5:
Distance to gear plane p  2.00 in
Distance to right support b  5.00 in
Distance to sheave plane q  6.75 in
Shaft speed ω  1725 rpm
Gear weight W  10 lbf
1
2
Gear moment of inertia I  0.23 lbf  in sec
1
Sheave weight W  3  lbf
2
2
Sheave moment of inertia I  0.07 lbf  in sec
2
Assumptions: The static deflection of the shaft due to the weights of gear and sheave will be used as an
estimate for Rayleighs method, but the gear and sheave weights will be applied in the
directions that give the largest static deflection. The shaft weight will be ignored.
Solution: See Figures 10-5, 10-32, and Mathcad file EX1008.
1. The deflection of the stepped shaft is found by the same technique used in Example 10-3. In this instance,
the loads are taken as just the weights of the two disks. But, we will consider the gear weight-force to act
downward and the sheave weight-force to act upward since that arrangement better represents the
dynamic situation where the inertia forces act outward from the axis in whatever direction increases the
deflection. If we directed both weight forces downward in this case, we would get a smaller maximum
deflection and a different curve shape than that of the dynamic deflection. Figure 10-32 shows the applied
weight forces and the deflection curve for this shaft. The magnitude of the deflection at the gear is
5 4
δ  6.0 10  in and at the sheave is δ  1.25 10  in
1 2

These values are needed in equation 10.25c.

2. Calculate the critical frequency for shaft whirl from equation 10.25c:
1
2
 2 

   i i 
W  δ
i 1
ωn  g   rad
ωn  2131 (a)
 2  sec
W  δ 2 
  i  i  


 i 1 
Note that the magnitudes of the weight forces and their corresponding deflections are all taken as positive
regardless of their vector directions in the static deflection case.

EX1008.xmcd
MACHINE DESIGN - An Integrated Approach, 4th Ed. Example 10-8-2

3. Compare the critical whirl frequency to the forcing frequency, ωf  ω.

ωn
 11.8 (b)
ωf

This is a very comfortable margin. If, in this example, the shaft weight is included in both the deflection
calculation and in the critical frequency calculation, the critical frequency becomes 20860 rpm, which is 12.1
times the forcing frequency. Even with the relatively light disks on this shaft, ignoring the shaft weight
does not introduce a large error. Both of these values from Rayleigh's method are higher than the actual
natural frequency.

4. To find the torsional critical frequency of a stepped shaft requires that an effective spring constant for the
combined stepped sections be found. The shaft portion of interest is between the sheave and gear (B to C
6
and C to D in Figure 10-5). The spring constant of any one section is, for G  11.5 10  psi
4
G J G π d
kt = =
l 32 l
4
G π d 1 lbf  in
From B to C ktBC  ktBC  102065
32 lBC rad
4 (c)
G π d 2 lbf  in
From C to D ktCD  ktCD  150769
32 lCD rad

Since the shaft sections all have the same torque but different deflections (which sum to the total deflection
as shown in equation 10.9b), they act as springs in series, The effective spring constant kteff of the portion
of stepped shaft between the two torque loads is found from equation 10.9d:
1
 1  1  lbf  in
kteff  k  kteff  60863
 tBC ktCD  rad (d)

5. The torsional critical frequency is found from equation 10.28c.

I I
1 2 rad
ωn  kteff  ωn  1065 (e)
I I sec
1 2

6. Compare the critical torsional frequency to the forcing frequency.

ωn
 5.9 (f)
ωf

This is an acceptable margin.

EX1008.xmcd