Modelling and analysis of a cracked rotor: a review of the literature and its implications

Timely detection of fatigue cracks is necessary to avoid catastrophic failure of rotating machines which can lead to economical losses and accidental risk. This paper presents an exhaustive literature survey on theoretical and experimental vibration analysis of the rotating shaft in the presence of crack. Various non-destructive methods adopted by several researchers for crack detection in rotating machinery have been discussed. The vibration-based crack detection methods such as vibration-based diagnostics methods and vibration-based signal processing techniques have been broadly categorized along with their advantages and disadvantages. In general, various methodologies such as breathing mechanism, finite-element method, Hilbert-Huang transform, artificial intelligence techniques, wavelet transform and wavelet finite-element transform have been applied to investigate the presence of crack in the rotating shaft. The parameters such as natural frequencies, 1x harmonic components of dynamic response, critical speeds and whirl orbits have been significantly influenced due to the presence of crack in the rotating shaft. Several studies have been carried out to study variations in these parameters. Still, there is a need of more reliable and accurate modelling approach to detect variations in these parameters. In this paper, an attempt has been made to deliver all the modelling approaches implemented by the various researchers to detect crack within the rotating shaft. The modelling approaches are categorized based on the methodologies adopted by the various researchers to detect crack. Moreover, the critical observations made from the proposed modelling approaches are summarized and presented.