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Purdue e-Pubs
International Compressor Engineering Conference School of Mechanical Engineering

1986

Experimental Analysis of Screw Compressor Noise

and Vibration
A. Fujiwara

N. Sakurai

Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/icec

Fujiwara, A. and Sakurai, N., "Experimental Analysis of Screw Compressor Noise and Vibration" (1986). International Compressor
Engineering Conference. Paper 553.
http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/icec/553

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Herrick/Events/orderlit.html
EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF SCREW COMPRESSOR
NOISE AND VIBRATION

Akinori Fujiwara. Chief Engineer J

I
Noriyoshi Sakurai. Engineer
Compressor Division. Mayekawa Mfg. Co., Ltd. <MYOOM)
Okubo. Moriya-Mach i. Ibaraki-Ken, Japan 302~01

ABSTRACT
Very few reports have been presented to date on
the noise and vibrational characteris tics of oil in-
jected screw compressors.
This time. a series of extensive experimenta l
analysis is performed. It includes the measurement s
and analysis of compressor casing vibrations. rotor
shafts vibrations, torsional <rotational) vibrations.
suction and discharge gas pulsations. pressure trans~
ient in one thread of rotors ana compressor noise.
These experiments are done mainly with R-22 gas,
and the operating speed of compressor continuously
varied up to 4400 RPM in some test conditions. The
tested compressors are mainly 1SOL<163mm ,long rotor).
Analyzed results of these experiments help to
explain the major noise and 'vibrational characteris-
tics of standard oil injected screw compressors.

Nomenclature
Fo = fundamental screw frequency, Hz
Fm male rotor operating frequency, Hz
Ff female rotor operating frequency, Hz
k specific heat ratio
n operating speed. RPM
Pd = discharge pressure. Pa
Ps suction pressure. Pa
Vi bUilt-in volume ratio
Pi built-in pressure ratio= Vik(adiabat ic change)
Zm male tooth number
Zf female tooth number
D rotor diameter. mm
L rotor length. mm

566
 INTRODUCTION
Today, the oil injected screw compressors are
known as high-performanc ed and highly durable compre-
ssor and their application range has become very wide.
In spite of the amount of information concerning its
applications and performances, technical papers deal-
ing with the fundamental characteristics of noise and
vibration of the compressors seem to be very few. In
order to evaluate and reduce the noise and vibration
of the compressors. their fundamental characteristics
must be well understood. So, to aid the better under-
standing of these, we will present this summerized
report of our series of experiments concerning noise
and vibration of screw compressors.

Compression Mechanism

The screw compressor is classified as a positive

displacement rotary compressor. The noise and vi-
brations generated Rotor
by a screw compressor
have a distinct
relationship to its
gas compression
mechanism. So it is
important to under-
stand this mechanism.
A general arrangement
of an oil injected
screw compressor is
shown in Fig. 1. F-ig. Oil Injected
Screw Compressor
a: As "':h.e pa.i.:r of lo'oe the suction end.
<Male) ana. &-roove A.s the inter-lobe
CFeaa.1c) 'becin to llle5h poJ.n-e move-s
unmesh. & s:pace towa:rcl th! diecharr:e
voluae j_s created end axi&ll;v the
1

and razr. i.s d::t&Wn in volume o! trapped

tllroui'h suction :go:rt. :pocket is g:rad.uall;v
Until the moment at :redue l!d and the:
,.hich th~ .suction :Pressure of the gas
po:rt closes, tl'ie consequent~;~~ in-
enti.:r~ s:oace is c:reasl!!d.. In this
!ill eel up wi. th cas phase, Oil i.s
as th~ roto:r~ rotate. injectl!':d. !or ccol-
a Sll'CTlOU PHASE c OOMPRESSION PHASl!: in~ sealing and
1

'b: The tra.p:ped poc:ke't. fo:r lu'b:rication.

o! r.as isola.'t~Q. !':roll
the i.nl@'t a.nd ou"tlf!t, d:At a. momen"':
i5 cved ei:rcu!ll!er- determined bY
en"ti.allY under t~:reaetermini!Q. Vi
:rotation a."': 'tlle (built in volum~
c:ons'tant suc:'tion I ratio) 1 'tl:le pocke"!:
pressure. o:f gas i.S .tel eased
through th~ Q..echari'l!
c:As rotation port and t)'l.l!
l;Jroceeds. another C:OID:Pl'e5sed te.s J.s
male lob!. engages full:Y a.ischargea.
a tea.l!: c-roove a$ through the :Port by
b TRANSFER PHASE thesl! St:al"t eshin" d D!SCHAROE PHASE !urthe:r l'Otation,
Fig. 2 OompTession Mechanism <Ref. [1 J >

567
 The compre ssion of a gas is ~ttained by the
a~rect volume reduct ion cf the inter- lobe space as
the rotors rotate . This is illust rated in Fig. 2.

EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQU:E:

Instrum ents <Re.[ 2])

A number of analyt ical tools and proced ures are
availa ble to analyz e noise and vibrat ion. The FFT
<Fast Fourie r Transfo rm> analys is is consid ered as a
versat ile techni que within ~hese method s. For a prac-
tical point of view. stand- alone FFT analyz ers are
used as the main instrum ent to analyz e signal s from
compre ssors. The follow ings are the signal s s~udied
in detail ed experi ments.
- pressu re transi ent in one thread of female rotor
- discha rge and suctio n gas pulsat ions
- rotor shaft radial vibrat ions (relati ve to casing )
- rotor shaft axiaJ. vibrat ions <relat ive to casing )
- torsio nal vibrat ion
- relativ e rotatio nal vibrat ion <male and female>
- casing vibrat ion accele ration Cin three directi ons>
- compre ssor noise (norma lly at 1 meter>
Fig. 3 shows genera l set-up of instrum ents and trans-
ducers .

.a A~eelel:'ometer b:: PreS!iiUt"e T-ransduce r

e; So\lnd Level Meter d:Chal."ge /..mp.
e. DC Amp. f:Dat.a P.e.co:rde'r
g FFT Analy:.er h:Plotter

Fig. 3 Instrum ent Genera l Set-Up

Test Facili ties

Fig. 4 Test Facili tY Arrang ement

568
 Detaile d experim ents includi ng variabl e-speed
operati on are perform ed in laborat ory test facilit ies
mainly on 1601. Also some measure ments are taken on
operati ng compre ssor in actual plant. Shown in Fig.
4 is the general arrange ment of the test facilit y.

FUNDAMENTALS
This section will Present materia ls found by
experim ents on the fundam ental charac teristic s of
screw compre ssor noise and vibrati on.

Fundam ental Screw Frequen cy

The fundam ental frequen cy of noise and vibrati on

can be determi ned by the followi ng equatio ns.
For male drive Fo ~ n/60 X Zm
For female drive Fo ~ n/60 X Zf
These equatio ns indicat e that fundam ental frequen cy
is simply determi ned by the drive rotor operati ng
speed and its number of lobes. In this report we call
this frequen cy lFoJ as "fundam ental screw frequen cy".
Another fundam ental frequen cies are operati ng
speed of male rotor and that of female rotor. They
are calcula ted by next equatio ns.
For male drive Fro n/60
Ff n/60 X Zm/Zf Fm X Zm/Zf
For female drive Ff n/60
Fm n/60 X Zf/Zm Ff X Zf/Zm
Pressur e Transie nt in Rotor Thread

Fig. 5 illustr ates an example of in operati onal

period relatio nship between male rotor turning angle
and pressur e transie nt in one rotor thread. pulsati on
of dischar ge and that of suction .
,. All these are pro-
TE!:ij NO.~B 16 0 L
" ~L:oR;1.B .c .. ~.c D~l63
TE- ~~i'.lil c. 11 .L L/Dal. 65
~!~e;.:~: ~~e o.;.R-22 Gas
.
~~I;!
F'd P~ P;a- RELATioN Vi~) 65

~ "r-~~...---......;c::..--....---ro.-Jd-.v....--tl a:Pressu re Transien t

b:Suctio n Pulsatio n
~ lil
c:Discha rge Pulsatio n
~ a ffi:Disch arge Por~ Open

~~~~,1.~.~+.,.~~~~.~.+.,~~,..
MFILI:: TURN INC FINCI..E: t 0~!0)
Fig.S Operati on-Peri od of Pressur e & Pulsati on

569
bable causes of noise. The pressu re transi ent domina -
tes gas forces induce d on rotors and thereb y contro ls
the fundam ental noise and vibrat ion chara cteris tics.

Pressu re Pulsat ions

Pulsat ions are caused bY interm ittent gas dis-

charge and suctio n accori ng to the compre ssion mech-
anism. The discha rged gas pulsat ion is influe nced by
the pressu re differe nce betwee n operat ing discha rge
pressu re and thread pressu re at the moment of the be-
ginnin g of the discha rge phase. Exampl e of operat ing
pulsat ions from 1BOL is shown in Fig. B. Accord ing to
the Figure . their wavefo rms are simila r to sawtoo th I
triang ular wave and these period s indica te that their
freque ncies are at the fundam ental screw freque ncy.
w 1601
H E*-!.i
;l D~163
L/D~1.65
C/l

~ REAL R-22 Gas

,_. Po.
p,
a:Disc harge
-.981 b:Suct ion
E+5
.lilmSEC TIME 50.a~JmSEC 4400RPM

Fig. 6 Operat ing Pulsat ion Wavefo rm

Torsio nal Vibrat ion CTorqu e Fluctu ation>

Fig. 7 shows a typica l exampl e of operat ing tor-
sional vibrat ion signal from the output of the torque
meter. The vibrat ion is caused by dynami c gas torque
and its freque ncy is also at the fundam ental screw
freque ncy. In genera l. the measur ed torsio nal ampli-
tudes from torque meter would be well below 5% of the
static torque when operat ed under normal condit ions
with R-22 gas.

fsr=====J
N 1601 D~163 L/D~1.65 R-22Ga s

oo;rr6 mSec
1me
Fig. 7 Operat ing Torsio nal Vibrat ion

Rotor Shaft Vibrat ions

Result ing rom the gas forces and rotor contac t

570
forces. dynamic forces are induced on the rotors and
thereby radial and axial shaft vibrations of the
rotors occur. These vibrations are transmitted
through the bearings to the casing of compressor.The
fundamental frequencY component of rotor shaft vibra-
tions both in radial and axial directions are iden-
tical to the fundamental screw frequency. A typical
example of operating axial shaft vibration is shown
in Fig. 8.
~6-zz.---------------------------------,
c: 160L
o~l63
a"' L/0=1.65
"'
"'"
R-22
p. ~'
.--< Female
.<>til
..........
><=>
~6.22L--------------------------------8-0~mSec
0 Time
Fig. 8 Operating Axial Shaft Vibration
General Noise Characteristics

Fig. 9 shows the noise spectrum from 250L oper-

ating at 3000 RPM. Several discrete peaks. well above
1kHz. can be noted. and dB
other peaks are broad 250L
D=255
and not well defined. ~ L/Dl. 65
The dotted line in the S R-22
300DRPM
Fig. 9 lndicates a ~so
broad-band random noise ~
radiated by gas low. E
In general. the ~
.,oo
broad-band random noise g
of a frequency spectrum :
is heard as a rushing
soqnd. 0 2 6 .e 10 1:2 1& ~~
18
frequency kHz
Fig. 1 0 shows the Fig. 3 Overall Operatlng
spectrum of another com-- Noise Spectrum
pressor. 200L. ope-
rating at 3000 RPM.
dBA 200L
This compressor Dz2Q4
again genera-ces .--~100
Harmonics L/Dml. 6 5
noise at discrete "'
"' // l \ ~2 Gas

~
frequencies and ~80
are al: harmonical-
ly related.
They are ~igher
harmonics of the
fundamental screw 2
frequency \200 Hz> kHz
and the broad-band Fig.10 2kHz Range Operating
random noise Noise Frequency Spectrum

571
~nd~cates gas flow no~se. It should be noted that
the magnitudes of harmonics are approx~mately at a
constant level up to several order harmon~cs.

General Vibration Characteris tics

F~g.11 shows examples of vibration from 3201 op-

erating at 3600 RP~ employing a multiplying gear box.
The a~splacement spectrum. Fig.11-a. conta~ns 3
aom~nant discrete spectrum and the peak occurring at
240 Hz is the fundamental screw frequency. The spec-
trum at 50Hz shows operating speed of input shaft ana
its unbalance<in cluding motor.coupli ng and drive gear
) . EquallY. the peak at so Hz indicates output shaft
operating speed and its unbalance. And the waveform
of displacemen t indicates the "beat" between 50Hz and
60 Hz operating frequency signals.
The velocity spectrum. shown in Fig.11-b, indi-
cate the fundamental screw frequency and harmonics
decreasing their amplitude with frequency. The wave-
form of velocity shows appearances of sawtooth wave
hence its harmonics may decrease approximate ly -BdB/
octave in amplitude.
In contrast with the velocity signal, the accel-
eration signal shown in Fig.11-c indicates more
definite tendency of series of pulses. And according
to its waveform. the acceleration spectrum contains
more harmonics. The higher harmonics should come

~.,ll~

~ T1me
~-z~iiJ----------i

""
1!1 ""'"" 1i
-.---.,!.1,......~----:,;;c;.""c;:'' ~.HJ1
'..u}........ ~~~.~~~.~
L4~~,,~
frequency

Fig.11-a Displacemen t Fig.11-b Velocity

Multiplying Gear Box

.
.,, ~r-- 1-- Motor
~-1~--------j

"
8 Compresso r--
"'"" -
Skid
FH!~ueney
Fig.11-c Acceleration Fig.11-d Arrangement
Fig. 11 Operating Vibration Waveform and Spectrum

572
mainly from rotor meshing. Generall y. measured vibra-
tion accelera tion values may not exceed 9.8 m/sec2 <
= 1 G>. The "Axial" directio n shows the maximum vi-
bration accelera tion level from normallY operatin g
compress ors. It should be noted that. in general.
larger vibratio n level result in higher sound level.

Vibratio n Paramete r Selectio n

Accordin g to extensiv e vibratio n measurem ents.

data indicate that the vibratio n of screw compress or
has several harmonic s of the fundame ntal screw fre-
quency at a constant level in accelera tion in certain
range of frequenc ies. An example is shown in Fig.12.
0: ,400
.~ El
...,
I 1601
D~l63
<d I L/D~l.
~-< HRG 65
~ m/s> I R-22 Gas
<ll
u ! I 3600RPM
.A ~.. Jtw Jl I
u Axial
< Ill Jww, Ju..... i
0 fl/R Sf R Ll N 2kHz
Frequenc y
Fig. 12 Opera~ing Accelera tion Spectrum

dB
So.regar ding the
.
Acce:lerat.ion
,.
0
selectio n of vibratio n I
measurem ent paramete r. ~ 20 I
displace ment is not ["--. I
:::
the preferre d paramete r a"-40
except in case of un- ""'
~YelocHv
Nil!
Di:spla.ceme*~
"'
balance problem because 60 .Nl I I ill .........
of its low sensitiv ity '
at high frequenc y. as Frd~uency lOO "
1000

shown in Fig.13. Fig. 13 Displ. ,Vel.& Ace.

Relation
It is recommen ded that one should choose accele-
ration as a Paramete r ~hen measurin g screw compress or
vibratio n in detail. Care must be taken to avoid
mounted resonanc e of accelero meters within the fre-
quency range of intresT.
As a separate considerat~on. the displace ment
probe !proximi ty probe> is lhe only transduc er when
measurin g shaft vibratio n relative to the casing.

EFFECT OF OPER~TING CONDITIONS

Operatin g Pressure Conditio n

The operatin g ~re3sure conditio n has a distinct

573
~nfluence upon compressor no~se. casing vibrations
and performance. Operat~ng pressures also affect
tors~onal vibrat~on. shaft vibration and pressure
pulsations. The use of economizer also has some
effect on above mentioned vibrations.
As -!;he pressure in a rotc:r thread, .just prior to
the start of discharge phase. is only determined the-
oretically by the mult~plication between suction
pressure and built-in pressure ratio ( i.e. Ps X Pi )
without economizer. so there exists only one actual
operating discharge pressure which will exactly agree
with the theoretic~llY determined discharge pressure.
Regardless of the magnitude. there exists a certain
pressure difference between these two discharge pres-
sures. In general. the operating compressor noise and
casing vibration level ~ill increaae with the in-
crease in the pressure difference.
A measured example of compressor noise and casing
vibration shown in Table 1 indicates above mentioned
tendency under an operating discharge pressure condi-
tion. Another example under a constant operating
suction pressure condition is shown in Table 2.

Table 1 (dB) Table 2 (dB)

Noise & Vibration at Varying Ps Noise at Varying Pd
No. Ps MPa V.Acc. H,Acc. A.Acc. SPL No Pd M a SPL
1 0.50 +4.1 +2.2 +2.9 +3.1 1 0.91 +0.2
2 0,30 0 0 0 0 2 l. 07 0
3 0.16 +0.1 +1.1 +3.1 +3.4 3 l. 3 7 +2. 4
value *Ps~0.24MPa,No.2
*Pd=l,37MPa,N 0.2 as a reference
as a ref. value
In addition. the discharge port size cH. M and
L). H-port generally shows the best effect on meas-
ured noise and vibration from refrigeratio n compres-
sors because of its least gas mass flow rate within
three ports under normal operating condition.

Operating Speed
Operating data is used to determine not onlY the
level of noise ana vibration but also. more importan-
tly. the frequency components of these signals. By
varying the operating speed of the compressor. the
effect on frequency spectrum can be seen and the
various resonances. ~nherent in the compressor system.
can be determined.
Fig. 14 shows an example of a three-dimen tional
RPM spectrum map of generated sound pressure levels
from 160L. The peaks C at 100 Hz. 220 Hz. 275Hz and
545 Hz) are indications of various resonances.
In this case. the maximum amplitude peak at 545
Hz comes from a relative rotational resonance between

574
 the male and female rotor s. and can be determ ined
the metho d of detec ting the phase differ ence betwe bY
two sinus oidal tooth passin g signa ls rom invol en
gears attach ed to each rotor s. ule
The peak at 100Hz in Fig.14 . finall Y determ ined
at 87.5 Hz in highe r freque ncy resolu tion analY
with more fine pitch chang e in the opera ting speedsis
comin g from a tors~onal resona nce in the system .is
.
And the peaks at 220 Hz and 275 Hz are confir med
to be resona nces of skid membe rs by hammer~ng metho
d.
. &27
* not in dB-sca le, E+S
in linear scale l60L
D-163
L/D~l.65
Vi-5.8
R-22
.--<:>::

~4300 rl""
<UP-<
Q.:.::
0'-'
.u <I)
<U <I)
H p.
<I) U)
p.
0
- 1500
0 Freque ncy 2kHz
PWR SP
Fig.14 3-D RPM Spectr um Map of Gener ated No~se

For the discha rge gas pressu re pulsa tion.

typic al examp le is shown in Fig. 15. The magni a
increa ses with operat~ng speed . but on the bas~s tude
our data. it canno t be accou nted for its effec of
compr essor no~se. t on
l60L
D~l63
L/Oal. 65
V1-J.65
JFo R-22 Gas

Pa / 4400
E+5

" .
.490 ,
"" a
..'"""'
~ 1200
"' 0 Frequen cy 2kHz
Fig. 15 3-D RPM Pulsa tion Spectr um Map

Relat ive to the casing vibra tion accel eratio n.as

a resul t of our experiment.~t can be assure d that
accel eratio n level wlll incre~se propo rtiona lly the
with
the increa se in opera ting speed when no resona
nce

575
has occure d.

Part Load Condit ion

An outsta nding featur e of the standa rd screw

compre ssor is the abilit y of steple ss capaci ty con-
trol with the slide valve system . The change in Vi
result ing from the axial moveme nt of the slide valve
affect s not onlY the perform ance oi compre ssor but
also the chara cteris tics of noise and vibrat ion.
As shown in Fig. 16. under part load operat ions
the change in Vi
ranges from 3.0 to
s. 8 ....6 1.25 even in the L-
H-Port
port.s o the differe nce
betwee n theore tically
determ ined discha rge
pressu re (ps X Pi) and
the actual operat ing
~0~0~~--~60~~.~0--~2~0--~ discha rge pressu re
Load(%) also would be varied
Fig.16 Vi Change in Unload ing with unload ing.
As the result of above .it appear s that a comple x
change occurs in the chara cteris tics of noise and
vibrat ion under part load operat ion.
Fig. 17 shows a 3-D vibrat ion spectru m plot from
160L op~rating at 3600RPM under part load.
160L
Dl63
L/Dl, 65
Vi2,63
(100% Load)
ro./s~ de~;22 Gas
~ 4
..,
..
..-!
.
H ......,
~
....., ". "
"'"'"'
...... 00
" .,.,
<o1&~~~~~~~~
0 ... "
....
,""'
3-D Axial Vibrat ion Spectru m Map
Fig. 17
Under Part Load Operat ion
From full unload ed operat ion data, it can be
assume d that the return ing oil from the bearin gs and
the mecha nical seal will someti mes obstru ct a stable
operat ion of compre ssor under reduce d gas flow. More-
over the slide valve someti mes vibrat es at the funda-
mental screw freque ncy and. by impact ing on the
casing , it would cause an excess ive noise and I or
vibrat ion problem in extrem e case.

576
Type of Gas

Chang e in type of gas to be compr essed somet

indic ates distin ct effec t on the compr essor noise imes
and
vibra tion chara cteris tics. Here. as a typic al examp
Table 3 is shown as refere nce. le,
Other than this Table ,
data indic ates an existe nce of large differ ence
axial shaft vibra tions ana the ampli tude under in
opera -
tion in some test condi tions during which the
ampli -
tude with helium gas is four times great er than
ampli tude with air. the
The accur ate cause of the differ ence in noise
and vibra tion canno t be confir med now. but i t can
assum ed that it is resul ting from a chang e in be
molec ular weigh t of the gas to be compr essed the
Which
may affec t the leakag e inside the compr essors as
as the effec t of oil. well

Table 3 Noise and Vibra tion Differ ence

Gas Vert. Ace. Hori. Ace. Axial Ace,
Air SPL
1.46m/s~ 1.53m/ s" l.86m/ s 2 85.5dB
Helium 4.80 3.50 7.34 93.5
Operat ing Condit ion: Ps~0.049MPa, (Pd/Ps)~Pi, 3000RPM
3201, 0~321, L/0~1.65, Vi~5.8
Injec tion Oil Quant ity

Injec tion oil flow rate somet imes affec

noise level exper ienced in large refrig eratio nts the
press ors. com-
It is said that under a reduce d injec
opera tion overa ll noise level somet imes can tion
reduce d bY sever al dBs. Other than R-22, and be
light molec ular weigh t gas, this phenom ena is clear some
confir med by some exper iment s. ly
An examp le shown in Fig.18 is an opera ting noise
dB
I04r-c-~~~--------------
from 320L opera ting
-----,
lnject~on at 3000RPM with he-
.Full
*Redu~ed
lium gas. Althou gh
in this spectr um
plot.r educe d injec -
tion oil opera tion
is quiet er by 4 dB.
in some tests . the
atttai ned impro ve-
ment in sound
pressu re level is
44~0--------~----------------~ well above 8 dB.
Frequenc y

Fig. 18 Injec tion Oil Effec t

AFFECT OF SURROUNDING EQUIPMENTS

In most cases . the measu red opera ting noise from

577
 /
compre ssors contai ns many compon ents from variou s
indivi dual source s. The motor. gear box. coupli ng.
piping , oil separa tor, skid and so on. They all may
combin e to yield a comple x freque ncy spectr a plot.
Here. some simpli fied exampl es are discus sed.

Oil Separa tor

As alread y shown in Fig. 9 , the accomp anYing
broad~band random noise compon ent decrea ses with
freque ncy in freque ncy spectru m plot.I n contra st with
the Figure .in some cases as the typica l exampl e shown
in Fig. 19. a broad
dBr---------------------------~ peak appear s in oper~
100 320S
DJ2l
ating noise spectru m.
L/dl.l The broad peak
R-22
3000RPM
presen t is seen to
Noise. emerge from genera l
backgr ound. This may
be due to resona nce
noise radiat ed from a
source other than the
compre ssor. In this
operat ing noise spec-
trum. that peak has
I6 20 come from separa tor
kHz
outlet resona nce.
Fig. 19 Separa tor Noise

Piping
Fig. 20 shows an exampl e of operat ing noise from
320L test stand. The contai ned broad- band noise
spectru m result ing from gas flow noise radiat ed from
suctio n piping , can be reduce d by changi ng arrang e-
ment of the piping .
dB
lOj
~
>
,.., 320L
D32l

~
~
L/Dl,65
3000RPM
~
~

..
.,
~

~
~
0

"'
44 0 Frequenc y 5kHz

Fig. 20 Suctio n Piping Gas Flow Noise

578
Gear Box <Ref. [3J)
In some appli catio ns. a multi PlYin g gear box
emplo yed to attai n large r capa city than is
that of
direc t drive opera tion. Gear set withi n
some times produ ces noise probl em becau se gear box
impro per mesh. as shown in Fig. 21. In the of its
Figu re.th e
peak at abou t 3300 Hz is corre spond ing to
.frequ ency of this gear set. And aroun d the the mesh
mesh .frequ ency. there is a serie s of equal lY prima ry
comp onent s of sideb ands. space d
These sideb ands indic ate
exist ing gear pitch error .
~ 114
l>
Cll
t-..l 200S
MFrG
~dB D"'204
r-i 1/D"= l.l
0 R-12
z
54
~ Frequ ency 5kHz
Fig. 21 Gear Noise Spect rum

DETECTION OF FAILURE
Thru st Beari ng Flaki ng

In screw comp resso rs. rollin g-ele ment

are usua lly emplo yed as rotor thrus t bearibeari ngs
ensur e preci se axial posit ionin g. These beari ngs to
init e atig ue lie and some times ail ngs have
unex
by laki ng o racew ay as a resu lt o an abno pecte dlf
rmali ty.
The exam ple shown in Fig. 22 is a typic
ating vibra tion rom 160L at 3600 RPM. al oper-
In the

160L
D~l63
L/D~l.65
R-22 Gas
3600RPM
TIME fl LIN u~sEc
Ax:ial Ace.

ll rwR sr R LIN !CkHz

Fig. 22 Oper ating Abno rmal Vibra tion

579
 ter of peak s
vibr ation acce lerat ion spec trum . a clus rmal ity in
at appr oxim ately 3.5 kHz indi cate s an abno
And the wave form indi cate s that the
th{~ comp resso r. impa cts
in a serie s of
unus ual sign al is gene rated .
repe ating at rela tive ly low frequ ency
abso lute
In this case . the techn ique of the oyed . and
g in the time doma in sign als is empl
aver agin ating fre~
by ~ts spect rum. show n in Fig. 23, the repe to this
quen cy is confi rmed at 322.5 Hz. Acco rding
a bear ing inne r racew ay.
frequ ency , the dama ge in ernin g the
show n {n Fig. 24. can be dete cted . Conc
ng-e leme nt
frequ enci es deriv ed by dama ge of rolli
bear ing, refe r to the Tabl e 4.

u
u

"" i"iiR Sf A LIN 11diz

Frequ ency

Fig. 23 Abso lute Aver aged Spec trum

Tabl e 4 Bear ing Freq uenc ies
Frequen~y
!ypee of Damage Damaged Part
Eccent ricity* 1 Inner Ra~eway nFr
lnner R~ce~ay nZFi ~~
Rough Spot
Outer Raceway nZF~
Rolling Elemen t 2nFb *~

* 1 :and / o~
Wear,
occur~
* 2 :~m?litude Modula tion may
Where F1l/2 Fr(l+d /Dcos fi)
Fol/2 Fr (l-d/D cosp)
c
Fbl/2 FrD/d [1-(d/D )' cos'l'l
Fig. 24 Inne r Racew ay Fr .. Fll! or ff
Flak ing dDiam eter of Rolling Elemen t
DP;I,tc.h Diamete r
PConr.a .c.t Angle
ZcNumb er of Rolling Elemen ts
nl23 . . . .
Scuf fed Roto r Toot h [Inner Raceway Rotat~s and Outer is Station ary]

fing o
In a certa in oper ating cond ition s. scuf
roto rs some times take plac e.
200L
One typi cal exam ple of abno rmal noise rom For the
RPM is show n in Fig. 25.
oper ating at 3600 reco rded at
nois e leve l of this comp resso r.BS dBA was
of the plan t oper ation and it has in~
the begi nnin gs
of the anal y-
creas ed well abov e 100 dBA at the time s only how
sis. The over all nois e leve l indi cate
the orig in of nois e
serio us the probl em is. To dete ct zed nois e
is nece ssary . The analy
a frequ ency anal ysis fund amen tal
spect rum cont ains many sub-h armo nics of
indic ating tooth sepa ratio n and
screw frequ ency ,

580
 collis ion at the point of rotor mesh contac t. The
wavefo rm also shows one collis ion takes place per
every two mesh. After inspec tion; the cause of this
abnorm ality is confirm ed result ing from scuffe d and
worn rotor tooth flanks . <The scuffe d patter n on the
rotors can be reprod uced by compu ter simula tion, an
exampl e is shown in Fig. 26.)
In this case.s cuffin g of rotors is caused by oil
compr ession at freque nt start- ups. Opera ting sequen ce
is revise d to avoid unnec essari ly long oil pump oper-
ation before compr essor starts . and the proble m was
resolv ed.

,556~
~s
200L
0~204
RERL. L/Dgl, 65
~u R-22 Gas
-. 35e
3600RPM
t
~s r t.;.s. 3m Sec
.aoSEC TIMER Se.00mHC

.Sub-har monics

X: OVII'r.!l.ll Hz r: 10t.5<B
Fig. 25 Abnorm al Noise Signal

Drive Slde Flank

Fig. 26 Simula ted Scuffe d Patter n <Male Rotor)

Unpre cise Rotor

The screw rotors are so strict ly contro lled and

inspec ted in manuf acturin g that the accura cy has been
mainta ined over a certai n level.
As a seldom examp le, i f ever occur. Fig.27 shows
an operat ing noise on 2508 at 3000 RPM with unprec ise
rotor set. The sauna is heard as a ~rattling" noise.
The wavefo rm indica tes that three meshin g pulses
occur repeat edly in abnorm al magnit ude at every revo-
lution of the female rotor. Ana the shown spectru m
contai ns a series of discre te freque ncy compo nents

581
 .,,~
ES
2505
D-255
""' L/D-1. 1
R-22 Gas
-.6'~ 8000RPM
~+S
TIME A LIN

.
~ -.97~ Fo 2Fo
-
_3Fo. 4Fo

~dB .
ru '
"'
~
-
--
0

"" 3 7 .
0 fWR Sf A LIN lkH

Fig. 27 Opera ting Noise with Unpre~ise Rotor

nics
spacin g appro ximat ely 33 Hz<= F ) betwe en harmo
l screw requ ency. Ater inspe cting
o the unda menta is
the rotor set. it is conir med that abnor mal noise six
cause d by uneve n tooth thick ness o three o the
emal e rotor .

SUMMARY
d
The mater ial in this repor t is direc ted towar
ding a basic under stand ing o the unda menta l
provi in-
chara cteris tics o noise and vibra tion in the oil
aecte d screw comp ressor .
With respe ct to requ ency. it can be assum ed that
the unda menta l screw requ ency <Fa Fm X Zm ; or
essor noise
=
male drive ) domin ates all aspec ts in compr
vibra tion. From the resul ts o these exper iment s
and
ession mecha nism. desig n and
it is believ ed that compr tions
manu acturi ng param eters. and opera ting condi
ure pulsa tions o disch arge and
all in1u ence on press
suctio n gas. More impo rtantl y, they in1u ence on
ni-
dynam ic gas force s induc ed on rotor s and the mechaall
ol
cal conta ct force s betwe en rotor s.ther eby contr
the chara cteris tics o noise and vibra tion.
l
In our next repor t.we will prese nt a theor etica
analy sis o screw compr essor vibra tion.

REFERENCES
[11 ASHRAE. Heric al Rotar y Comp ressor s.
1979 Equip ment Handb ook,pp . 12.14 -12.1 7.
[21 Tanak a. N .. and other s. Trans . of JSME. 1984.
vol.SO ,no.45 8. pp. 1783- 1789.
[3] Mitch el. L.D . Origi ns of Noise .Mach ine Desig n.
May 1 .1 969.

582