The Vibration of Rotating Shafts Supported in Flexible Bearings

This paper deals with an axially symmetric system composed of a uniform or non-uniform flexible shaft rotating in flexible bearings. It is shown how natural frequencies and characteristic functions may be found, using data that have been presented previously. Systems having flexible bearings whose mass is negligible are shown to be simpler than those whose bearings are massive and a discussion of their free and forced motions is given. Free and forced motions of shafts supported in massive bearings are shown to demand special treatment and an analytical approach is explained for each.