FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

BENG (HONS) IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAMME

(BMEGI)

MEE 5206
VIBRATION
PROJECT
OIL WHIRL MONITORING
BY
NG ZHI SIANG (I12002035)
PHAN CIN REN (I11009253)
SEAN MICHAEL (I10007252)
Lecturer : Dr.Abdul Wehab
(11th November, 2014)
1

Contents
List of Tables..................................................................................................................4
1.0 Introduction..............................................................................................................5
1.1 Background of the project....................................................................................5
1.2 Problem Statement...............................................................................................7
1.3.

Objectives of the project..................................................................................8

1.4.

Scope of the project.........................................................................................9

1.5.

Report Organization......................................................................................10

Chapter 2: Literature Review.......................................................................................11

2.1 Causes of oil whirl..............................................................................................11
2.2 Effects of Oil Whirl............................................................................................13
2.3 Solutions for Oil Whirl.......................................................................................13
2.4 Monitoring Oil Whirl.........................................................................................14
Chapter 3: Methodology..............................................................................................16
3.1 Reason behind the Oil whirl phenomenon.........................................................16
3.1.1 Method to overcome oil whirl phenomenon...............................................18
3.1.2 Types of Lubrication...................................................................................20
3.2.

Experimental Set Up......................................................................................21

3.3.

Experiment Procedure...................................................................................22

4.1 Experiment Result..............................................................................................22

4.2 Discussion..........................................................................................................23
Chapter 5: International Case Study............................................................................25
Chapter 6: Conclusions and Recommendations...........................................................27
6.1.

Conclusions...................................................................................................27

6.2.

Recommendations.........................................................................................28

References....................................................................................................................29

List of Figures
Figure 1.1 : Shaft off-center in Journal Bearing

Figure 2.1 Hydrodynamic lubrication shaft riding on oil wedge in equilibrium.

11

Figure 2.2 Orbit Plot (Shown inside bearing clearance)

14

Figure 3.1 Oil whirl phenomenon

17

Figure 3.2: common types of vibration

18

Figure 3.4: Side view of the apparatus

22

Figure 3.3 : 2D view of the experiment apparatus

22

Figure 3.5 : Journal Bearing

22

Figure 4.1 : Graph of Critical Frequency Against Shaft Speed

25

Figure 4.2 : Vibration with Oilwhirl, 1000rpm

26

List of Tables
Table 4.1 Obtained result from online simulator

23

1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the project
Oil-whirl instability in rotor bearings was discovered by General Electric engineer
Burt Newkirk in the 1920s. Since then, much has been written about design methods
to reduce its harmful effects. Yet it still remains troublesome and of great concern,
particularly in lightly loaded journal bearings in turbines, compressors, and pumps; in
large vertical motors and generators; and in many similar machines (M. M. Khonsari,
2013).
Oil whirl is a condition peculiar with journal bearings used on machines equipped
with pressure lubrication systems operating at relatively high speeds. It manifests
itself as a vibration of less than less than 50% of shaft speed (James E. Berry,2014) It
is caused by a lightly loaded bearing riding up on its high-pressure wedge and going
up over the top and around. If the rotating shaft is moved off the center due to load,
eccentricity, or imbalance, the gap/clearance on one side of the bearing will be greater
than that on the other side, as shown in Figure 1. The average speed of the lubricant
increases inside the gap and slows down when it leaves the gap. The speeding up and
slowing down causes turbulence in the fluid known as oil whirl (Journal Bearings:
Oil Whirl and Oil Whip. 2014)

Figure 1: Shaft off-center in Journal Bearing

The cure is to increase the load on the bearing. This usually requires a redesign of the
bearing and is best handled by the bearing or machine supplier. Some redesigns are
narrower bearings, axial grooves, pressure dams, lobed journals, or tilting pad
bearing. The narrower bearing increases the load on the journal. The other redesigns
break up the symmetrical oil flow pattern (Naikan,2014).
There are some temporary measures that can be taken to alleviate oil whirl. The
temporary measures are to change the oil viscosity, by adjusting the oil temperature or
a different oil. Another temporary measure is to run the machine in a more loaded
condition (Naikan,2014).
Oil whirl is aggravated by excessive bearing clearance. When oil whirl becomes
severe, there is a potential for the shaft to rub the inside of the journal. This causes
friction and subsequent localized heating. Oil whirl produce wave of turbulence and
induces a sub-synchronous vibration which is approximately 40-50% of the running
speed (Naikan,2014).
This experiment helps understand the effect of oil whirl on machinery vibration. The
equipment at different shaft speeds can be conducted for studying the effect of speed
on the vibration level in oil whirl.

1.2 Problem Statement

When a fluid, either liquid of gas, filling the space between two cylinders, one
rotating and one stationary, the fluid is set into motion in the gap. This is exactly
same as the rotating machinery in fluid-lubricated bearings, seals, around pump
impellers, or in any fluid filled gap between rotor and stator. In this paper, everything
written about journal bearing are applies to seals.
In a fully lubricated fluid bearing, the fluid velocity at the surface of the bearing is
zero, while the fluid velocity at the surface of the rotor is equal to the rotor surface
speed. The oil near the rotor surface moves at a slightly slower velocity that continues
to decrease with the distance from the rotor and reaches zero at the bearing surface.
The fluid must have overall average velocity which is less than the rotor speed, and
that the faster the rotor turns, the faster the fluid average velocity must be. However
the fluid velocity should not higher than a limit of speed (Richard Thomas,2014).
According Bernoulli's law, fluid travel in high speed will create low pressure. Same
theory applied on this paper, when the lubricant travel in high speed (cause by oil
whirl), lubricant will no longer able to support the shaft (keeping shaft on center)
causing the clearance between shaft and journal wall thinner and create high
temperature region, friction or contact with wall.
Oil whirl become worsen by excessive bearing clearance. When oil whirl is occurring,
there is a potential for the shaft to damage the inner wall of journal. This will causes
friction, subsequent localized heating, crack of shaft.
Oil Whirl problems can be extremely frustrating and may lead to greatly reduced
reliability. By utilizing the proper data collection and analysis techniques, then the
true source of the vibration only can be discovered and solved.

1.3.

Objectives of the project

The aim of this report is study the oil whirl phenomenon and investigate the effects of
different operating parameters on the oil whirl phenomenon through virtual lab
simulator. This report will insight the background, methodology, finding and
recommendation from other journals or articles returned and then investigate every
relevant parameter. The overall objectives of the research are pointed out as follows:

To study and investigate on the causes of the oil whirl.

To investigate the effect of different operating parameters, in this case,

different speed on the oil whirl through virtual lab simulator

The effect of rotational RPM of the shaft on the vibration level and the
vibration frequency

To evaluate the theory by experiment result and calculation

1.4.

Scope of the project

The main idea of this project is to discuss the details on how the oil whirl
phenomenon happened. There are a lot of possibilities and reason may cause the oil
whirl phenomenon. The boundary focus of this research paper is more specifically on
parameter of rotational speed which study with respect on objective function on oil
whirl. A theoretical background on the given phenomenon including its cause and
effect will be presented in this paper. An experiment system will be introduce to study
the phenomenon of oil whirl and identify the behavior of oil whirl in journal bearings
and the experiment will be run by using Dr V. N. A. Naikan online virtual lab
simulator. The experiment result from online similar will be further evaluate by
calculation in order to prove the theory. An International case study are also included
in this paper to relate the theory to a real life example, investigate the problems from
real life problem and provide solution for the real life problem.
1.4.1 FLOW CHART OF THE PROJECT
The flow chart below shows the progress or steps of the whole progress to construct
this paper.
FLOW CHART OF THE PROJECT
Researching and Analyze the Project Title

Searching and Gathering Information and Resources to Create the Concept

Literature Review of Journals

Design of Experiment System & Lab Simulator

Analysis of Data through Calculation & Discussion

International Case Study and provide solution

Conclusion, Recommendation and Future Work

1.5.

Report Organization

The sequence of chapter review is arranged in sequence to achieve the objectives as

follows:
Chapter 1 introduce the opening of this research paper with the project title
background, explains the importance of the topic, the problem statement of study this
report and the achievement objectives as well as the scope of the research on
investigate on relevant parameter that significant to objectives of this paper.
Chapter 2 is the literature review of every journal with similar objective relevant to
this project title.
Chapter 3 is the methodology section which give description of the experimental
system and experimental procedure to carry out the simulation study on different
operating parameters with respect on objective functions.
Chapter 4 categorised into results and discussion sections. The results section is the
results obtained from online simulation which represented in graph.
Chapter 5 discuss a International case study related to your project tile and discuss in
detail in including the technique and solution provided to resolve the phenomenon
problem.
Chapter 6 is the conclusion and recommendation sections. This chapter will conclude
the whole research results and discussion and recommend on preventing the oil whirl
phenomena.

10

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Causes of oil whirl

Sub-synchronous variability in hydrodynamic journal bearings is most commonly
caused by oil whirl. Oil is present in journal bearings to lubricate and remove heat
from the actual bearings by flowing around it. The oil will typically flow with an
average speed of slightly less than half of the journal surface speed (normally around
45%) (Berry, 2005).

Figure 2.1 Hydrodynamic lubrication shaft riding on oil wedge in equilibrium.

(Source Operational Information Oil Whirl and Whip. Viewed 16 October 2014,
<http://www.marinediesels.info/2_stroke_engine_parts/Other_info/oil_whip_and_whi
rl.htm>)

From Figure 2.1 above, it shows how a simple hydrodynamic bearing normally
functions. The yellow outer areas is the bearing oil while the inner white area is the
shaft. Also stated is how the oil speed if normally half that of the shaft surface speed
when oil whirl occurs. Randall (2010) explains the shaft movement as, surfing on a
wave running around in the bearing clearance. Because the oil adjacent to the shaft
travels at shaft speed and that the bearing surface has zero velocity, the mean velocity
of the lubricant is approximately half the shaft speed, but slightly less in the critical
pressure zone (supporting the bearing load) because the pressure gradient causes a

11

backward flow. Instability can occur when the system is able to extract more energy
from the rotation than is dissipated by damping mechanisms.
When a disturbing force take place on the shaft like an external shock or an
unexpected surge, it can increase the eccentricity of the shaft from its equilibrium
situation momentarily. When this happens, additional oil is immediately pumped into
the space vacated by the shaft. This results in an increased pressure of the loadcarrying film, which creates additional force between the film and shaft, as
mentioned by (Courtney & Todd, 2009). When this happens, it is possible for the
shaft to be driven in front of the oil film in a forward circular motion. This might lead
it into a whirling path around the bearing within the bearing clearance. With sufficient
damping within the system, it will simply return the shaft to its normal stability and
position. However if sufficient damping is not available, the whirling motion of the
shaft will continue and cause the amplitude of movement to progress to a point where
the bearing clearances are exceeded (Courtney & Todd, 2009).

This can cause

disastrous damage to the bearing. Mobius Institute (2010) has provided a very
educational video titled Vibration analysis orbits orbit plots journal bearing
vibration.mp4 which shows what happens when the shaft is knocked out of its
equilibrium position and how it moves eccentrically around the bearing.
Courtney & Todd (2009) further provide list of conditions which can cause oil whirl
in journal bearings. These conditions are listed below;
1. Light dynamic preload forces
2. Change in oil pressure
3. Excessive bearing wear or clearance
4. Improper bearing design (e.g. use of theoretical shaft loading instead of actual
shaft loading)
5. Changes in oil properties (e.g. such as temperature and viscosity)
Oil whirl can be identified rather straightforwardly by recognizing strange vibration
frequencies which is normally 0.4 to 0.48 times the shaft RPM. When the vibration
amplitude reaches 50% of the average bearing clearance, it can be disastrous and
corrective action must be taken (Berry, 2005).

12

2.2 Effects of Oil Whirl

Oil whirl produced by fluid induced instability is a major problem if it occurs in
journal bearings. This kind of instability is a serious malfunction in rotating
machinery as it can cause the machine disastrous failure if it goes on unhindered. The
oil whirl involves numerous major physical occurrences, such as the friction,
impacting, localized heating and changes in the system stiffness (Fan & Syu & Pan &
Tsao, 2011). These instabilities effect the normal operation of a journal bearing due to
them occurring repetitively with constant frequency and amplitude.
If oil whirl goes on untreated it can cause the unstable rotating shaft to touch the
inner bearing wall (this condition known as oil whip). This contact between the shaft
and inner wall will lead to bearing failure as it will cause friction, heating, and
changes to the surrounding temperature. It will ultimately lead to physical
deformation on the shaft or inner wall from metal-to-metal contact that will wear
away the bearing rapidly and destroy the rotor if not corrected (STI, 2012).
2.3 Solutions for Oil Whirl
There are many solution to temporarily correcting the oil whirl phenomena. Some
temporary solutions are important to apply since depending on the situation, it might
be more important to keep the machine running as opposed to shutting it down until a
permanent solution can be applied. This can be due to monetary or quota reasons such
as e.g. the machine is required to run constantly for at least 30 more hours to complete
its task before being shut down. Some temporary corrective measure as provided by
Courtney & Todd (2009) are that you can temporarily reduce or remove oil whirl by
changing the viscosity of the oil (by changing the oils temperature). Another
temporary solution is to induce a minor misalignment or unbalance deliberately which
will effectively increase the load temporarily. Also, heating or cooling the support legs
can shift the alignment to a more favorable position which can help reduce oil whirl.
Another method is to disrupt the lubricant wedge by scraping the edges or by
grooving bearing surface. And the final temporary solution is to just simply change
the oil pressure inside the journal bearing to a more suitable pressure.

13

More permanent solutions however require changes to the machines bearing and can
take a lot of time and cost to implement, which is why it is important to take
advantage of the temporary solutions first if needed. Courtney & Todd (2009) have
also stated three permanent solutions to oil whirl which are;
1. By installing a new bearing shell with the appropriate clearances.
2. Having a preload on the bearing with an internal oil pressure dam and in
drastic situations,
3. Entirely altering the bearing type to oil film bearings which are less liable to
oil whirl (e.g. lemon bearings which have joint faces that are machined off so
that they have a vertical diameter much smaller than the horizontal).

2.4 Monitoring Oil Whirl

Courtney & Todd (2009) mention that it is usually recognized that the best technique
of determining vibration in typical journal bearings is by using displacement probe.
Displacement probes monitor shaft vibration and shaft position by using orbital plots.
This method plots the location of the running shaft and its rotation on a graph and can
show its shape of vibration with time. Figure 1.2 below illustrates this process;

Figure 2.2 Orbit Plot (Shown inside bearing clearance)

(Source Jordan, M. A. (1993) What are Orbit Plots, anyway? Viewed 26 October
2014, <http://www.ge-mcs.com/download/orbit-archives/1991-1995/December
%201993/1293jordan.pdf>)

14

Figure 1.2 above shows the orbital plots inside the journal bearing. The outer circle
can be taken as the inner wall of the bearing and the + symbol as the location of its
centre. The smaller ellipse inside the circle shows the shaft rotation movement around
the journal at a given time. The dot and arrows present on the ellipse serve as to
represent a point on the outer edge (also known as surface mark) of the shaft and the
direction of rotation of the shaft respectively. The journal clearances are obviously
exaggerated in this figure as it serves a purpose to help people see more clearly the
normal (or abnormal) movement of the shaft within the bearing.

It is imperative to remember that displacement probes (using orbital plots) measure

the relative motion of the shaft relative to the shell of the machine. This means that if
the machine and shaft are moved together, the displacement would be measured as
zero, though in actuality the machine might be vibrating intensely (Courtney & Todd,
2009). Displacement probes typically have exceptional low frequency reaction.
Perhaps the best journal bearing condition data at lower frequencies (below
approximately 5X RPM) is captured by non-contact probes evaluating relative shaft
vibration. These probes are also frequently used to deliver shaft tachometer speed
indications by detecting a shaft surface mark, hole, or projection. These are better
known as a key phasors.
There are some disadvantages of using these probes such as they are slightly difficult
to install and exchange. They also typically require an external power source to
function and need to be calibrated to the specific surface materials (Courtney & Todd,
2009).

15

Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1 Reason behind the Oil whirl phenomenon
Oil whirl is a phenomena where an unstable free vibration and fluid-film
bearing has insufficient amount of load. Under this condition, the centreline of the
shaft usually moves circular to the direction of rotation (DiracDelta,n.d.). This
condition can occur because of:
-

Whirl frequency coincide with the shaft resonance frequency,

Lightly loaded bearing,

excessive bearing clearance, and also

Weak foundation or improper oil viscosity.

Improper design of bearing

Increase and decrease in oil temperature or pressure

High amplitude
(Berry, 2005)

From all possible cause that might occur, bearing failure or high vibration is
the most possible to happen. Most of the large industry using a large induction motor
and drives high speed compressor or any other rotating equipment run on the sleeve
bearing. Bearings can be either ring lubricated or force lubricated. High speed rotor
can lead to lateral vibration. High lateral vibration is caused by rotor unbalance. This
kind of vibration does not effect on the bearing and can be fixed by balancing the
rotor. In some condition, induction motor sleeve bearing are susceptible to large
amplitude lateral vibration as this also one of characteristics in oil whirl. During oil
whirl, the rotor orbits in its bearing clearance at a frequency less than half the rotor
angular speed. This condition can lead to many disasters such as bearing failure, and
other equipment damage. In this condition, the behaviour of rotor is fluctuating. Since
the amplitude going up the rotor speed will reach its maximum point and decreases
once it has reach the maximum point. (Singhal,S, 2009)

16

The oil whirl can be identified by observing the frequency of vibration.

Unusual vibration frequency is in range between 40% - 49% of shaft angular speed
(RPM), other than that oil whip can occurs when the whirl frequency coincide with a
shaft resonant frequency. Oil whirl and whip can occur in any case where fluid is
between two cylindrical surfaces. In other occasion where the shaft receives a
disturbing force such as sudden action, or any other external force, it can build up the
number of eccentricity from its equilibrium position.

When this condition occurs, excessive amount of oil is pumped to the shaft in result
pressure and temperature in load-carrying film increases, thus creating more force
between the oil film and shaft. The figure below is a journal bearing.

Figure 3.1 oil whirl phenomenon

The figure above shows the oil whirl phenomenon. Typically, the oil film itself
flows around the journal to lubricate and cool the bearing, in this occasion the average
speed slightly less than 50% of the journal bearing surface. (Berry, 2005)
Half-frequency oil whirl, a type of rotary-shaft motion, is caused by a wedge of
oil film traveling around the bearing circumference at an average velocity of half the
shafts surface speed. Amplitude of this rotor whirl often approaches 50 to 100% of
the total clearance and threatens machine performance.
Oil whip, a potentially catastrophic vibration, occurs when whirl frequency coincides
with the natural frequency of the shaft at rotational speeds two or more times the
17

rotors natural frequency. This might be thought of as a stabilized version of halffrequency whirl. Its constant frequency is half the first natural frequency of the shaft
for speeds ranging up to about three times the natural rotor frequency.
(Khonsari,2013)
3.1.1 Method to overcome oil whirl phenomenon

Oil whirl can cause many severe issues including the breakdown in the whole
induction motor. There are several that should do to avoid this phenomenon:
1) Changing the design parameter in bearing
There are several parameters that control the bearing design. The operating
parameter is the most crucial parameter, because it consists of bearing load
and speed. As what mention before, the light bearing load is one of the reason
to trigger oil whirl, so, the way to solve this is to increase the bearing load ,
beside that speed must also be controlled, excessive speed can build up the
amplitude and in result to high vibration which can cause catastrophic. Beside
that, the design of the bearing clearance in bearing must also be minimized.
(Singhal,S, 2009)
2) Rotor balancing

Unbalance vibration usually cause by lack of balance in the rotating mass

support by the bearing. This type of unbalance can be controlled by balancing
the rotor. Look at the figure below on how they types of rotor-vibrating
frequency

18

Figure 3.2: Common types of vibration

The figure above shows three common types of vibration in oil film journal
bearing, and also the effect. Complexity associated with the oil film, bearing
geometry, temperature, viscosity, supporting structure, and these are the entire
factor that cause the rotor unbalance, perhaps all of this parameter can be fixed
it will generate a proper design of bearing. In fact, different machines may
respond differently with the same bearing, and secondary effects may
influence in type of vibration. In example as speed increases unbalance may
delay a shift from simple rotational frequency to expected half-frequency oil
whirl. However, when the speed rises to three times the natural rotor
frequency, unbalance vibration takes over and the amplitude rises to the
maximum possible within the bearing clearance. (Khonsari, 2013)
3) Choosing the right oil properties
The good oil for machine has this kind of characteristics:
a. The index viscosity number follows the standard number and it must
be fixed to the machine as well, if the index viscosity number too low
it can trigger the machine to overheat, on the other hand if it to high the
friction force will increase and cause machine hard to be started
b. The oil quality low because it easy to dissolve with other substance or
particle which considered ruin the oil quality, so it better to choose the
oil that hard is to dissolve with other substance
19

c. Must have high maximum temperature point which can be reached

before the oil molecule break down
d. Must have lower minimum temperature point which oil still can flow
smoothly
e. Adhesive characteristic should be good in every part of the machine
(bogor.net,n.d.)

20

3.1.2 Types of Lubrication

1) Elastohydrodynamic: The phenomenon that occurs when a lubricant is introduced
between surfaces that are in rolling contact.
2) Boundary: Has the highest asperities may be separated by lubricant films only
several molecular dimensions in thickness from insufficient surface area, a drop in the
velocity of the moving surface, a lessening in the quantity of lubricant delivered to a
bearing, an increase in the bearing load, or an increase in lubricant temperature
resulting in a decrease in viscosity
3) Solid film : When bearings must be operated at extreme temperatures, a solid-film
lubricant such as graphite or molybdenum disulfide must be used because the ordinary
mineral oils are not satisfactory.
4) Hydrodynamic: the load-carrying surfaces of the bearing are separated by a
relatively thick film of lubricant.
- As the shaft rotates, create an oil wedge that lifts and supports the shaft by relocates
it within the bearing clearances. It is to prevent metal-metal contact.
5) Hydrostatic: Does not require motion of one surface relative to another.
- Obtained by introducing the lubricant into the load-bearing area at a pressure high
enough to separate the surfaces with a relatively thick film of lubricant.
- Provide accurate, highly damped, friction free linear and rotary motion.

21

3.2.

Experimental Set Up

Figure 3.3 : 2D view of the experiment apparatus

The mechanisms required to carry out the test is simple. It only required the assembly
of 1 motor, 2 journal bearing, a shaft and an accelerometer which connect to the
computer.

Figure 3.4: Side view of the apparatus

The computer able to display the speed of the shaft and the amplitude of acceleration
for different frequency.

Figure 3.5 : Journal Bearing

Figure 3.5 shown the type of journal bearing used in this research paper.

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3.3.

Experiment Procedure

1. Connect the experiment apparatus as figure 3.3.

2. Turn on the power supply of motor.
3. Adjust the voltage of the motor to obtain the designed operating rotational speed.
4. Record all the results obtained from the simulator.
5. Repeat step 3 and 4 for remaining designed operating speed.
6. Turn off the power supply.
Chapter 4: Result and Discussion
4.1 Experiment Result
Shaft Speed,
N (rpm)

1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000

Critical Frequency

Frequency

of the Lubricant , f

of Shaft, f

(Hz)

(Hz)

Oil Whirl
f of lubricant
f of shaft

x 100%

(%)
7.5
16.67
45%
15
33.33
45%
23
50
46%
30
66.67
45%
37
83.33
44%
44
100
44%
53
116.67
45%
53
120
44%
67
150
45%
75
166.67
45%
Table 4.1 Obtained result from online simulator

The shaft speed is the operating parameter of the simulator varying from 1000 rpm to
10000rpm. The critical frequency results is obtain from the simulation graph. While
for the frequency of shaft and the oil whirl is calculated by following formula:
Frequency of Shaft, f (Hz) =

Shaft Speed
60

(4.1)

Oil Whirl =

f of lubricant
f of shaft

x 100%

(4.2)
23

4.2 Discussion
One of the objective of this project is investigate the effect of different parameters on
the fault phenomenon through virtual lab simulator. In this paper, the operating
parameters been varying is the speed of the shaft which varying from 1000rpm to
10000 rpm as shown in Table 4.1.
From the result, the relation between the shaft speed and critical frequency can be
observe easily from Figure 4.1.The higher the shaft speed, the higher critical
frequency.

Graph of Critical Frequency Against Shaft Speed

Figure 4.1 : Graph of Critical Frequency Against Shaft Speed

The rotational speed of shaft is converted in term of frequency, so it is easier to
compare with the critical frequency because of the same unit. If fraction of critical
frequency over the shaft frequency is around 45% then it indicate that the condition of
oil whirl occur.

24

Figure 4.2 : Vibration with Oilwhirl, 1000rpm

Figure 4.2 show a graph obtained from online simulator for 1000rpm apply speed.
The acceleration is the amplitude of the vibration. The type of amplitude indicate the
type of vibration. From figure 4.2, there are only 2 type of amplitude, which are
amplitude from 4 to 14 and amplitude from 4 to 8. Therefore there is 2 type of
vibration. One of the amplitude with 0.45 rotation speed is indicating the condition of
oil whirl while other kind of amplitude indicate other type of vibration. Other type of
vibration can be come from the misalignment of bearing housing, motor alignment
and etc.

25

Chapter 5: International Case Study

In 2009, Laurent LaPorte, (2009) did a case study of one of the Military Sealift
Command T AE class ships which was experiencing something out of place. While
on duty, the crew of the vessel noticed something was just plain wrong during the
day-to-day routines of the ships inspections. The crew managed to isolate this strange
occurrence to the No 1 Ships Service Turbine Generator (SSTG) after they noticed it
was intermittently inducing noticeable vibration throughout the engine room.
The crew knew something was terribly wrong with the No. 1 SSTG based on their
instincts and investigation; but the cause was unknown. The reason for the concern
was the abnormal vibration was intermittent and developed and disappeared at
random with no degraded SSTG performance or abnormal internal conditions (such as
lube oil temperature and pressure)
Later on during a machine assessment follow-on, Azima DLI was tasked with
conducting vibration tests and analysis in order to determine and hopefully isolate the
offending vibration symptoms. They performed several test cycles on all three
onboard SSTGs under an assortment of conditions. These tests include off-bus,
loaded/in-parallel operation, loaded/isolated, while underway and at anchor. The
results revealed that a seemingly random but serious occurring condition in the No. 1
SSTG turbine bearings known as oil whirl.
The case study goes on to characterize oil whirl and its causes and how this
phenomenon develops extreme horizontal and vertical vibration amplitudes between
0.38 times to 0.49 times the shaft turning speeds. The case study also mentions how
this phenomena can lead to oil whip which, when combined with oil whirl can cause
destructive forces within the bearing/machine.
For this case, after extensive testing of the vibration originating from the No. 1 SSTG
turbine bearings, the oil whirl condition was indicated to produce and excessive
vibration at 0.49 times and 1.49 times the turbine shaft rotation speed. The journal
bearings of the other two SSTGs did not exhibit any of these extreme vibration
characteristics. This was the smoking gun they were looking for.

26

When a machine experiences an oil whirl condition, it should not be run unless
absolutely necessary, as it is a serious condition. The recommended repair and
maintenance action is to inspect the turbine journal bearings thoroughly. This means
that the proper bearing lubrication, bearing temperature, oil pressure, mechanical
bearing fit and clearances (tolerances) should be verified properly according to the
bearing manufacturers specifications.
In this case however, unfortunately due to the ships operating requirements, the unit
could not be taken offline to perform bearing inspection. This resulted in the No. 1
SSTG unit failing three months later and resulted in the turbine bearings needing to be
wiped, extensive repair work, repair costs and ship down time in the repair yard. This
shows how extensive the damage due to oil whirl condition can be on a machine.

27

Chapter 6: Conclusions and Recommendations

6.1.

Conclusions

From the results and discussion, it can be concluded that oil whirl is a vibration
phenomenon that could potentially cause severe damage to machinery if not removed
in a timely manner. This is due to oil whirl being able to cause the rotating shaft to
come into metal-to-metal contact with the inner wall of the journal bearing that would
eventually cause physical damage to the system. These damages could be severe and
require a lot of repair and replacements that cost money.
Oil whirl is also a condition that is relatively hard to identify at a glance. While
abnormal vibrations in a particular machine can usually be easily identified by skilled
and experienced maintenance crew, identifying the cause as oil whirl is another
matter. With sufficient knowledge and analyzing of vibration patterns on a machine
could reveal if the problem is due to vibration, this might not be done in time if the
machine has a long up time with no breaks to perform tests.
If oil whirl is detected, the machine must be powered down immediately in order to
apply countermeasures to prevent oil whirl from occurring. While there are temporary
solutions that would allow the machine to safely resume operation with oil whirl
minimized, after extended periods the symptoms will tend to come back due to the
initial flaws in the bearing. Temporary solutions should only be applied if it is
absolutely critical for the machine to continue being used at normal conditions.

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6.2.

Recommendations

In order to prevent oil whirl from occurring or reoccurring, special journal bearings
known as lemon bearings can be used since they have joint faces that are machined
off so that they have a vertical diameter much smaller than the horizontal. These
characteristics can effectively eliminate oil whirl in the system.
Another method is to have condition monitoring tools installed which can determine
the position and rotation of the shaft within the journal bearing using displacement
probes. These probes are effective at determining oil whirl and a multitude of other
journal bearing conditions as they effectively monitor the location and rotation of the
shaft within the bearing at all times. Using orbital plots, these probes are able to
provide a visual representation of the orbit and spin of the shaft in the form of a
graph (like an oscilloscope). These monitoring devices, while expensive can help
detect and prevent many vibration related phenomena within journal bearings.

29

References
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State University, Baton Rouge [ONLINE]
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operation [Accessed on 25 October 2014]
James E. Berry (2014) Oil Whirl and Whip Instabilities - Within Journal Bearings .
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Journal Bearings: Oil Whirl and Oil Whip. 2014. [ONLINE]

Available at: http://www.xyobalancer.com/xyo-balancer
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[ONLINE]
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Singhal,S.,2009 Theory behind the oil whirl [PDF] Available at

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5297142&url=http%3A%2F
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