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OIL WHIRL ROTORDYNAMIC INSTABILITY PHENOMENON-


DIAGNOSIS AND CURE IN LARGE INDUCTION MOTOR

Copyright Material IEEE
Paper No. PCIC-2009-35

Sumit Singhal Rajendra Mistry, P.E.
Member, IEEE Member, IEEE
Siemens Energy & Automation Siemens Energy & Automation
4620 Forest Avenue 4620 Forest Avenue
Norwood, OH ,USA Norwood, OH , USA
sumit.singhal@siemens.com rajendra.mistry@siemens.com

Abstract - Reliable design and operation of rotating
machinery is critical to achieve bottom line production goals
and financial results in petrochemical, transportation and
chemical products processing industries. Of the many factors
which may cause failure and or reliability issues in these
industries, one of the most frustrating and involving relates to
bearing failures or high vibration problems. One of the
choices for rotating equipments is oil lubricated journal
bearings. Oil film journal bearings are susceptible to large-
amplitude, lateral vibrations due to a self-excited
rotordynamic instability known as oil whirl. During oil whirl
the rotor orbits in its bearings at a frequency approximately
half the rotor speed. Oil whirl is usually caused by lightly
loaded bearings, excessive bearing clearances, weak
foundation and/or improper oil viscosity. At the inception of
non-synchronous oil whirl the amplitude of rotor motion
progressively builds at a frequency of approximately less
than half of that of the rotor speed and does not damped out.
If left uncontrolled oil whirl may lead to catastrophic bearing
failures and equipment damage due to high vibration values.
This paper will discuss the cause of oil whirl, its effect, how to
detect it and its solution.

Index Terms Oil whirl, sleeve bearing, induction motor,
lateral vibrations

I. INTRODUCTION

Rotating machinery such as compressors, pumps,
blowers, motors etc. form the backbone of the petroleum and
chemical industry processing and transportation application.
Due to their high reliability, good efficiency and simplicity,
induction motors are the most popular type of prime mover
for rotating equipments. There are many factors which may
cause motor failure. One of the most frustrating and involving
is bearing failure or high vibration. Although the cost of a
bearing is a small fraction of the induction motor cost, their
failure may cause additional costly equipment damage and
expensive downtime.
Most of the large induction motors which drive high speed
compressors (1800 or 3600 RPM) or any other rotating
equipment run on an oil lubricated sleeve bearings. Bearings
can be either ring lubricated or force lubricated. Lateral
vibrations of a motor rotor operating at high speeds may
occur for different reasons as discussed in [1]. One of the
most common reasons of high lateral vibration is due to a
presence of unbalance in the rotor. The frequency of this
kind of lateral vibration is always the same as the speed of

the motor. This type of vibration does not depend on the
bearing and can be cured by balancing of the rotating
system. Rarely but some times induction motor sleeve-
bearing configurations are susceptible to large-amplitude
lateral vibrations due to a self-excited instability also known
as oil whirl. Oil whirl is independent of rotor unbalance or
misalignment and is a self-excited instability caused by the
forces generated in the lubricating oil film due to
hydrodynamic action. During oil whirl the rotor orbits in its
bearing clearance at a frequency approximately less than
half the rotor angular speed in the same direction as the
rotor. If not controlled, this non-synchronous self-excited
orbiting motion of the rotor will grow without bound inside the
bearing clearance circle which may lead to catastrophic
bearing failure and equipment damage. During oil whirl, rotor
behavior is unlike the critical speed resonance where the
amplitude of motion builds up as the rotor reaches its critical
speed and then decreases once it has passed through the
critical speed. At the inception of non-synchronous whirl the
amplitude of rotor motion progressively builds up at a
frequency less than half that of the rotor speed and stays
high.
This paper discusses the basic theory of oil lubricated
sleeve bearings, causes and prediction of oil whirl instability.
Also it presents the case study on oil whirl instability
diagnosis and control.

II. THEORY

A. Operation of journal bearing

A journal bearing is used to support the rotor in horizontal
machines and to restrict radial movement in vertical
machines. Most oil lubricated journal bearing consist of a
stationary cylindrical body (sleeve) separated from the
rotating shaft by a layer of lubricant. In a journal bearing such
as plain cylindrical, lobe or tilting pad bearings pressure or
hydrodynamic lift is generated within the thin lubricant oil film
which separates the shaft and the bearing, thus preventing
metal-to-metal contact. The nomenclature of oil lubricated
sleeve bearing is shown in Fig. 1. In oil lubricated sleeve
bearings oil may be supplied to the bearings by gravity feed,
external lubrication system or oil rings. Oil adheres to the
journal due to its viscous properties and pumping action as
journal rotates. Fluid pressure is generated due to the
hydrodynamic action of the fluid film. This pressure
counteracts the weight of the rotor and lifts the journal from




978-1-4244-3800-6/09/$25.00 2009 IEEE
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c. Unstable Orbit
b. Steady State orbit with unbalance






















the bearing surface preventing metal to metal contact. There
are several key operating and geometric parameters which
influences the generation of reliable oil film such as operating
speed, load, clearance between journal and bearing, oil
viscosity, surface finish as well as the radius and length of
the bearing.
Some of the important parameters involved in the design
of oil lubricated sleeve bearings systems are summarized
below and have been divided into various sub-categories:
A. Operating Parameter
a) Bearing Load (W)
b) Operating speed (N)
c) Oil viscosity ()
B. Geometric Parameter
a) Length of bearing (L)
b) Diameter of bearing (D)
c) Radial clearance between journal and bearing
(C)
C. Performance Parameters
a) Eccentricity (e)
b) Eccentricity ratio () = e/C
c) Minimum film thickness (
min
h )
Usually operating parameters are determined by the rotor
load and motor speed, which are known to the mechanical
designer. In order to obtain optimized performance
parameter for a given set of operating parameters, the
designer can control items such as geometric and operating
parameters such as oil viscosity to obtain the optimal and
most reliable bearing system possible.

B. Motion of the Rotor Inside the bearing clearance
Rotor center can exhibit following type of trajectory inside the
bearing clearance
a) Steady state orbit without unbalance
b) Steady state orbit with unbalance
c) Unstable orbit

Steady state rotor orbit without unbalance is shown in Fig. 2





































(a). During this kind of rotor motion rotor center will rotate
and if measured with non contacting proximity probes the
orbit will be a point in the clearance circle and will remain
there indefinitely. During this kind of rotor motion minimum
film thickness will remain at fixed location. However this kind
of rotor motion will not happen in real world situation as their
is always some degree of rotating unbalance present in the
rotor. Steady state rotor orbit with rotating unbalance is
shown in Fig. 2 (b) during this kind of rotor motion rotor
center will rotate around a point in the clearance circle
forming a fixed repeatable stable orbit. During this kind of
rotor motion minimum film thickness will not be at fixed
location but makes rotation along with rotor center. Non
contacting proximity probes mounted on the bearing housing
measures the amplitude and phase of this shaft orbit. The
amplitude of the rotor orbit grows with degree of the
unbalance forces. In order to have reliable bearings vibration
amplitude, this orbit should be kept as low as possible. API
541 limits residual unbalance to 4W/N at each end of the
motor rotor. During unstable rotor orbit as shown in Fig. 2 (c)
unlike steady state orbit with unbalance as shown in Fig.
2(b), rotor never settles down to a fixed point and never
hmin
Load
Clearance Circle
Shaft
Bearing
Lubricant
Eccentricity
Fig. 1 Schematic of Journal Bearing
Sensor 1
Sensor 2
a. Steady State orbit with no unbalance
Sensor
Sensor
Fig. 2 Types of Rotor Motion inside bearing clearance
3
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Rotor Speed (Rpm)
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
V
i
b
r
a
t
i
o
n

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
Oil Whirl
forms a fixed repeatable stable orbit. During this kind of rotor
motion, rotor rotates around the bearing center with orbits
which may grow unbounded inside the bearing clearance
circle ultimately reaching the limit of the bearing clearance
circle causing bearing wipe out. This kind of rotor orbit occurs
during self excited lateral vibration instability such as oil whirl.

III. OIL WHIRL PHENOMENON, DIAGNOSIS & CONTROL

There are many electrical and mechanical forces present in
induction motors that can cause vibrations. Some of
mechanical vibrations are listed below.
a) Resonance vibration at the critical speed of the rotor
b) Self excited vibration in oil lubricated journal
bearings due to oil whirl.

A. Critical Speed Resonance

Resonance vibration at the critical speed of the rotor is the
forced vibration due to an imbalance present in the rotor.
When the rotating speed coincides with the natural frequency
of the rotor system, high vibration occurs as a result of the
resonance. Oil lubricated bearings reduce high vibrations
while rotor is passing through the critical speed. Fig. 3 shows
the typical signature plot of rotor speed v/s vibration
amplitude of an induction motor passing through the critical
speed and can be observed that the amplitude of motion
builds up as the rotor reaches its critical speed and then
decreases once rotor had passed through the critical speed.
The amplitude of the orbit of rotor center grows as the speed
ramps up to the critical speed and then shrinks as it moves
away from the critical speed. Since critical speed resonance
is not self excited vibration the rotor orbit is stable and does
not grow without bounds inside the bearing clearance circle.
Amplitude of vibration during critical speed and operating
speed can be reduced by bearing oil film damping and
precision balancing of the rotor respectively.



















B. Self excited vibration: Oil Whirl Phenomenon

Newkirk and Taylor [2] in 1925, based on their experimental
findings, reported a new kind of self-excited rotordynamic
instability associated with hydrodynamic type journal
bearings. They observed that during this self excited
instability the rotor orbits in its bearing clearance at a
frequency less than half of the rotor speed. They found that
this lateral vibration can be controlled by shutting off the oil
supply to the bearings. From these observations they
concluded that these types of lateral vibrations of the rotor
are due to the action of lubricating oil film and referred to this
self-excited rotordynamic instability as oil whirl. From their
experiments they also concluded that these sub-
synchronous vibrations may be prevented by misaligning the
bearings slightly, by the use of friction damped bearings or
by avoiding the lightly loaded shafts. Since the discovery of
this phenomenon by Newkirk many experimental and
theoretical investigations have been conducted to
understand and predict the onset of this non-synchronous
whirling. Hagg [3] provided some theoretical insights into the
phenomenon of oil whirl. He stated that during the stable
motion or steady state condition of the rotor in a bearing, the
hydrodynamic fluid forces developed by the oil film is equal
to the external load. However during the whirling motion of
the shaft, the hydrodynamic forces overcome the external
load and act as an energy source which accelerates the
circular orbit of the shaft in the direction of rotation of rotor.
Oil whirl is independent of rotor unbalance and cannot be
controlled by balancing [4].
Fig. 4 shows the typical signature plot of rotor speed v/s
vibration amplitude of an induction motor showing oil whirl
vibration. During oil whirl the rotor behavior is unlike critical
speed resonance as discussed in previous section. During oil
whirl the amplitude vibration increases with speed and never
decreases or damped out. Also the rotor orbits around
bearing center. Orbit of the rotor is unstable and grows
without bound inside the bearing clearance circle. If go
undetected or not diagnosed and controlled oil whirl can
cause catastrophic bearing and equipment damage.











C. Why the frequency of oil whirl is 0.45X - 0.5 X
A cross-section of the journal bearing is shown in Fig. 5.
The center of the bearing of radius R is labeled J . The shaft
has radius r with center S . For simplicity if pressure
variation in the bearing is ignored then the velocity profile of
the lubricant is approximately linear, and varies from 0 = v
Critical Speed (w)
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
V
i
b
r
a
t
i
o
n

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
Rotor Speed (Rpm)
Fig. 3 Vibration Data of Motor passing through critical speed
Fig.4 Vibration Data of Motor with oil whirl
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on the bearing internal face to r v on the outside surface
of the journal. Hence, incompressible flow continuity in the
control volume 1-2-3-4-5-6-1 implies
( ) ( ) rv e C r e C r 2
2
1
2
1
= + (1)
where v is the speed of J . The constant whirl speed implies
circular motion with r v = thus follows from (1) that
e r re 2 = , (2)

or
2

= . (3)
Hence the whirling frequency of the shaft equals half of the
operation speed of the journal when pressure variation is
ignored. However, bearings support of shaft load is by virtue
of pressure variations. When the pressure varies the whirling
speed is less than half of the shaft speed.




















D. Prevention and Control of Oil whirl

Lightly loaded bearing or very large bearing clearances are
most common reasons for oil whirl issues in induction motor.
Various design charts have been developed to predict the
onset of oil whirl based on theoretical and experimental study
which are based on operating, geometrical and design
parameters for various rotor stiffness values [5]. These
design charts can be used to check bearing stability once
geometrical parameters are calculated for optimized
performance parameters. If speed of operation is higher than
the threshold speed of instability then geometrical
parameters such as length, diameter or clearance can be
changed to increase the stability of the bearing. In some
cases due to the combination of bearing design parameters
and operating requirements such as for high speed lightly
loaded bearing operation it may be difficult to design a plain
cylindrical bearing which is free from oil whirl instability. To
overcome this issue, bearings such as offset 2 lobes, 3 lobe,
four lobe, and tilting pads as shown in Fig. 6 can be used to
suppress oil whirl and improve bearing stability. A few of the
disadvantages of using offset or lobe bearings are
a) These are more expensive than cylindrical bearings
b) Due to non uniform cross section oil rings may not
be used with 3 lobe or 4 lobe bearings hence it
requires external lubrication system. This bearing
system requires redundant or backup oil lubrication
system in case of emergency coast down due to
power failure.
c) Since it is special bearing design, spare parts may
have long lead time.

The onset of oil whirl instability is sensitive to bearing
clearance and overall system stiffness values. A situation
may arise that the motor is running free from oil whirl for
many years after commissioning, and it may suddenly run
into oil whirl issue after several years of operations. This may
happen due to increase in bearing clearances which may be
caused due to wear of the babbit or the journal. Oil whirl
instability may also be caused by weak motor foundation
which reduces overall stiffness of the system. Sometime it is
possible to control oil whirl on fields by changing the viscosity
of lubricant. Lubricant viscosity plays a major role in oil whirl
instability. Under normal operating conditions, the lubricant
undergoes a significant change in temperature which causes
a change in viscosity and this affects other bearing
performance parameters such as minimum film thickness
and load carrying capacity. Singhal et al [7] presented the
comprehensive bearing design charts to control oil whirl by
increasing or decreasing the oil supply temperature.








Fig. 5 Journal bearing undergoing oil
J
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
e r +
e r

r
R
e

Fig. 6 Different kind of bearing configuration


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IV. CASE STUDY

















Before we discuss a Case Study we will discuss about the
practical aspect of finding oil whirl vibration using orbit, and
orbit time base, and also spectrum plots. Oil whirl is self
excited mechanism; motion is forward, is greater than 50% of
rotational speed. Fig. 8 shows the orbit and time base of the
oil whirl vibration and Fig. 9 shows the spectrum clearly
indicating the sub synchronous vibration of the oil whirl. In
Fig. 8 the upper plot shows the high unfiltered vibration while
the lower plot shows low 1 time rotational vibration. [10]
circular, and typically appears between 35% and 49% of
shaft rotational frequency. The direct orbit is predominantly
forward and circular, while filtered to the instability frequency,
will always be circular and forward.
Fig. 7 shows the behavior of the Keyphasor dots. (Blank
bright sequence) Number of Keyphasor dots per rotational
speed represents the relationship between sub synchronous
frequency to the running speed. The direction of the dots with
respect to the rotational speed tells us the value of the of sub
synchronous frequency. When dots appear to move



in a counter rotation direction, the sub synchronous
component occurs at less than 50% of running speed. If the
dots appear to move in the same direction as shaft rotation,
the sub synchronous component occurs at a frequency that
Fig. 8 shows the orbit and time base of the oil whirl vibration
and Fig. 9 shows the spectrum clearly indicating the sub
synchronous vibration of the oil whirl. In Fig. 8 the upper plot
shows the high unfiltered vibration while the lower plot shows
low 1 time rotational vibration. [10]

A. Case Study: Oil Whirl of a Vertical Motor

The following is a case study where a vertical motor
exhibits oil whirl at shop testing. The motor was 3500 HP,
1200 RPM for a pump application.






Fig. 7 Keyphasor Dot for Sub-Synchronous
Vibration [9]
Fig. 8 Orbit Plot Direct & One time rotational
Fig. 9 Spectrum Plot One time rotational
Fig. 10 Upper bearing Housing of Vertical Motor
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Fig.10 shows the upper bearing housing and bearing
arrangement. The upper bearing housing consists of a thrust
bearing; guide bearing and thrust block which is tightly
assembled on the rotor shaft. The thrust bearing has six
pivoted thrust pads with top surface of pads lined with the
Babbitt material. Plain cylindrical guide bearing in upper
bearing assembly keeps the thrust block in radial position.
The inner surface of this guide bearing is also lined with
Babbitt. The reservoir filled with suitable viscosity oil serves
the lubrication of both thrust and guide bearings. Water
cooler keeps the oil temperature controlled.
Fig. 11 shows the lower bearing housing and the bearing
arrangement. The guide block is tightly fitted on to the shaft
and runs within the guide bearing and is lubricated with the
suitable oil. Both upper and lower guide bearing has a light
radial load from the rotor. Any load exerted on these
bearings is due to misalignment uneven magnetic force or tilt
of the rotor. The motor was tested uncoupled and unloaded.
The shaft vibration at upper and lower bearing was
monitored using non contact probes position 90
o
apart.
Motor showed a high bearing vibration during the shop test.
Fig. 12 is the orbit plot for the sub synchronous and 1 time
rotational of the upper bearing. Sub synchronous shows 2
keyphasor dots per revolution and it is less than 180
o
indicating oil whirl sub synchronous frequency less than 50%
of rotational frequency. Also sub synchronous vibration
amplitude is much higher than the synchronous vibration
amplitude. The spectrum plot in Figure 13 shows the sub
synchronous frequency of 9.25 Hz. The rotational frequency
is 20 Hz. 9.25 Hz is 46.25% of rotational speed.
Fig. 14 is the orbit plot for the sub synchronous and 1 time
rotational of the lower bearing. Similar information can be
achieved from these plots as from the upper bearing plots.
Sub synchronous shows 2 keyphasor dots per revolution and
it is less than 180
o
indicating oil whirl sub synchronous
frequency less than 50% of rotational frequency. Comparing
upper and lower sub synchronous frequencies are very
close. Also sub synchronous vibration amplitude is much
higher than the synchronous vibration amplitude.


























Fig. 11 Lower bearing Housing of Vertical Motor
Fig. 13 Spectrum of upper bearing
Fig. 12 Orbit plots at Lower bearing
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Fig. 15 also reveals the same information for the sub
synchronous frequency. It is 9.25 Hz. and it is 46.25% of
rotational speed.
Various methods were tried to solve the problem like
reducing oil level, changing oil temperature by cooling the oil.
None of the methods gave an acceptable result. Finally
reduced bearing to journal clearance applied, which resulted
in a lower vibration level. In the field one can deliberately
slightly misalign the driver and driven equipment within the
acceptable limit. This can produce a radial force on the guide
bearing and either minimize or eliminate the vibration due to
oil whirl.

V. CONCLUSION

Oil whirl is a self-excited vibration and can affect the rotor
stability. It is uncontrolled and changes to whip at the critical
speed. Various factors, such as lightly loaded bearing,
excessive clearance, and change in oil properties can
produce oil whirl. Proper attention at design, manufacturing
and operating stage will prevent oil whirl.
In the field by changing oil properties or adding bearing
load will reduce the oil whirl vibration.

VI. REFERENCES

[1] Finley, William R., Hodowanec, Mark M., and Holter,
Warren G., An Analytical Approach to Solving Motor
Vibration Problems, IEEE Trans. Ind. App., Vol. 36, No.
5, Sept./Oct. 2000, pp. 1467-1480.
[2] Newkirk, B. L., and Lewis, J. F., Shaft Whipping due to
Oil Action in Journal Bearings, General Electric Review,
1925, 559-568.
[3] Hagg, A. C. Oil Whip. Westinghouse Research
Laboratories.
[4] Pinkus, O., Experimental Investigation of Resonant
Whip. Trans. ASME (1957): 975-983.
[5] Chauvin, D An Experimental Investigation of Whirl
Instability Including Effects of Lubrication Temperature in
Plain Circular Journal Bearings, Master thesis, LSU,
2004.
[6] Nicholas, J Hydrodynamic Journal Bearings- Types,
Characteristics and Applications, Vibration Institute 20th
Annual Meeting, 1996.
[7] Singhal, S; Khonsari, M. A Simplified Thermo
hydrodynamic Stability Analysis of Journal Bearings,
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Part J Journal of Engineering Tribology, 2005, Vol 219
Issue 3, p225
[8] Fredric F. Ehrich; Handbook of Rotordynamics 1992.
[9] Machinery Malfunction Diagnosis and Correction by
Robert C Eisenmann, Sr. and Robert C Eisenmann, Jr
[10] Fundamentals of Rotating Machinery Diagnostics by
Donald E Bently, Charles T. Hatch, and Bob Grissom









Fig. 14 Orbit plots at Lower bearing
Fig. 15 Spectrum of Lower bearing
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VII. VITAE
Sumit Singhal graduated with a BSME degree from Bhilai
Institute of Technology, India in 2000 and received a Master
of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana
State University in 2004. Sumit worked for Center for
Rotating Machinery (CEROM) as Research Assistant where
he conducted research in an area of Rotordynamic Instability
problems. He has been a Mechanical Engineer in the Above
NEMA motor development engineering group at Siemens
Energy and Automation since 2004. He is a member of IEEE
and ASME. He is a reviewer in Journal of Tribology, IMECH:
Tribology Transactions and has published several papers
related to bearing design and induction motor.

Rajendra Mistry, PE received his B.E. degree in Mechanical
Engineering in India and a Bachelor of Technology in
Electrical Engineering in the U.K. He is currently a consulting
product engineer at Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.
(Norwood) in the engineering development department
responsible for developing above NEMA induction motors.
In addition to his industry role, he has attended several
courses in vibrations, design for manufacturing, concurrent
engineering, and digital signal processing. He is a certified
vibration analyst; category II and III per ISO/FDIS 18436-2.
He is a member of ASME, ASM International, and Vibration
Institute. He holds two patents for components in hydraulic
elevators.

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