Machine Vibrations and Rotordynamics
Rotordynamics play an important part in electrical machines. Electrical machines have a primary purpose of creating torque between the rotor and the stator. However, it is also possible to cause sideways forces between those two components. These sideways forces can be hugely useful in controlling the vibration of machines, but they are underexplored. The UTC has identified several new possible ways in which to do this that offer significant advantages over what already exists.
In machine balancing of modern machines, rotordynamics plays an important part in recognising the requirements to balance a full machine. Legacy practice has traditionally focussed on trying to balance only the rotor, whereas in reality, there are different optimal states of balance. The UTC has pioneered an approach called robust balancing which takes into account the state of the machine as a whole when balancing.