The effects of an annular fluid on the critical speed of a rotating shaft

Prediction of vibrations of rotors when passing through the flexural critical velocities is important for industrial applications. Pumps of nuclear reactors are a typical example characterized by a rotor which rotates at relatively low speed in a dense fluid like water or sodium. In such configurations critical velocities and natural frequencies of the equivalent beam system may differ significantly, mainly because of fluids effects. A brief review of the physical mechanisms involved is presented and a numerical code: ROTOR, based on the finite element method, is described which allows for a linear analysis of rotors, taking into account also the non conservative forces associated with the gyroscopic and the fluid effects. Finally the practical importance of fluid is emphasized by some experimental results obtained on two pump-shaft models working in water. Results are discussed in relation with the code expectations. For completely immersed rotors the computed critical velocities are found to be in good agreement with the experimental values. However for partially immersed rotors further experimental and theoretical work is still needed