Coupled horizontal and vertical bending vibrations of a stationary shaft with two cracks

This paper investigates the coupled bending vibrations of a stationary shaft with two cracks. It is known from the literature that, when a crack exists in a shaft, the bending, torsional, and longitudinal vibrations are coupled. This study focuses on the horizontal and vertical planes of a cracked shaft, whose bending vibrations are caused by a vertical excitation, in the clamped end of the model. When the crack orientations are not symmetrical to the vertical plane, a response in the horizontal plane is observed due to the presence of the cracks. The crack orientation is defined by the rotational angle of the crack, a parameter which affects the horizontal response. When more cracks appear in a shaft, then the coupling becomes stronger or weaker depending on the relative crack orientations. It is shown that a double peak appears in the vibration spectrum of a cracked or multi-cracked shaft. Modeling the crack in the traditional manner, as a spring, yields analytical results for the horizontal response as a function of the rotational angle and the depths of the two cracks. A 2 x 2 compliance matrix, containing two non-diagonal terms (those responsible for the coupling) serves to model the crack. Using the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, the equations for the natural frequencies and the coupled response of the shaft are defined. The experimental coupled response and eigenfrequency measurements for the corresponding planes are presented. The double peak was also experimentally observed. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.