A NEW, THERMALLY CONTROLLED, NONCONTACT ROTOR BALANCING METHOD

Available alternative rotor balancing techniques applied to rotors manufactured in high volumes often have productivity limitations. A new method has been devised that allows a rotor to be balanced as it rotates, without physical contact. The method accomplishes balance correction by means of deformable torsion elements that permanently relocate discrete masses through local heating under the action of centrifugal forces. The method exploits the elevated temperature, time-dependent deformation behavior of metallic materials under stress to produce controlled incremental deformation through radiative pulse heating. The important aspects of the new method: the physical configuration of the deformable elements, the non-contact, local heating method, and the method of producing controlled incremental deformation of the mass relocation element have been modeled analytically and demonstrated experimentally.