Self-balancing in Rotating Machinery

This project investigated the method of self-correcting mass imbalances in a rotor operating above its critical speed using multiple-ball balancer. This self-balancing phenomenon was described theoretically and a working model was designed and fabricated to demonstrate this principle. The device was used to test the ability of the balls to achieve stable balancing positions under different conditions including rotation speed, number of balls, addition of damping fluid, and critical speed of the system. The self-balancing was achieved for 2, 3, 4 and 8 balls, but inconsistently. The results are more consistent for the rotation speed above 2.5 times the critical speed. Damping fluid is shown to greatly help to stabilize the balls