Chaos of rub-impact rotor supported by bearings with nonlinear suspension

Abstract The nonlinear dynamic analysis of the rotor–bearing system is studied in this paper and is supported by oil-film short bearings with nonlinear suspension. An observation of a nonlinearly supported model and the rub–impact between rotor and stator is needed. Therefore for more precise analysis of rotor-bearing systems, the rub–impact between rotor and stator is also proposed in this paper. The displacements in the horizontal and the vertical directions charactering the theoretical model of the system are considered with non-dimensional speed ratio. Inclusive of the analysis methods of the dynamic trajectory, the power spectrum, the Poincare maps and the bifurcation diagrams are used to analyze the behavior of the rotor centre and bearing centre in the horizontal and vertical directions under different operating conditions. The maximum Lyapunov exponent analysis is also used in this study to identify the chaotic motion. It is concluded that the trajectory of rotor centre and bearing centre have undesirable vibrations. Especially at s =5.6, the rotor centre is at chaotic motion but the bearing centre is still at quasi-periodic motion. With the analysis of the dynamic behavior of these operating conditions, the theoretical and practical idea for controlling rotor–bearing systems and optimizing their operation can be more precise.