Diagnosis of the Thermal Bow of a Shaft in a Three Stage Centrifugal Compressor
摘要
In practice many turbo-machines driven by motors are started up to operational speed within a very short time, i.e. in less than 20 seconds. For this type of machines the compatibility of thermal deformation of the rotor structure must be taken into account in the machine design, or the thermal deformation will be constrained and a huge resultant force can cause the shaft bending and consequently resulting in violent vibrations. In this paper, detection of thermal bow of a shaft in a three stage centrifugal compressor in a petrochemical plant is presented. The diagnostic results show that the thermal bow was induced by the incompatibility of axial thermal deformation of the rotor structure. A remedial action allowing free axial thermal expansion of the outer parts of the rotor is suggested.