Nonlinear Vibration Signature Analysis of Rail Axle - Bearing Systems

S. P. Harsha
1*
, V. H. Saran
1
, V. K. Goel
1
and Mats Berg
2

1
Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department, IIT-Roorkee, India
2
The Marcus Wallenberg Laboratory for Sound and Vibration Research
Teknikringen 8 SE 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden
Email: surajfme@iitr.ernet.in
*
, saranfme@iitr.ernet.in , goelvfme@iitr.ernet.in , matsabom@kth.se
Abstract
Increasingly more people are utilizing their traveling time by railway vehicles, to perform sedentary activities like
reading, writing or working on laptop. Apart from track irregularities and track dynamics, other rail components e.g.
primary & secondary suspensions, car body and rail axle roller bearing wheel system affect the vibrations of the seat
and thus the ride comfort and ability of passengers to perform the sedentary activities. Vibration analysis of axle box
bearings is also important for monitoring the condition of wagon wheel sets, which is crucial for the safety of high-
speed railway traffic. In this paper, nonlinear dynamic analysis of a rail axle-bearing system due to the effects of the
number of rolling elements has been studied. In the analytical formulation, the contacts between rolling elements and
races are considered as nonlinear springs, whose stiffness values are obtained by using Hertzian elastic contact
deformation theory. The results show the appearance of instability and chaos in the dynamic response as the speed of
the axle-bearing system is changed. Period doubling and mechanism of intermittency have been observed which lead to
chaos. The appearance of regions of periodic, sub-harmonic and chaotic behavior is seen to be strongly dependent on
the radial clearance. Poincar maps, phase plots and frequency spectra are used to elucidate and to illustrate the
diversity of the system behavior.

Key Words: Nonlinear dynamics, radial internal clearance, Poincar maps, FFT and roller passage frequency (RPF),
rail axle bearing vibration.

1. Introduction
An analysis of rolling element bearing dynamic behavior is important to predict the vibration responses of rail vehicles.
When rail axle bearings are operated at high speed, they generate vibrations and noise. The principal forces, which drive
these vibrations, are the time varying nonlinear contact forces, which exist between the various components of the
bearings, i.e. the rolling elements, races with the axle and wheel. In the axle bearing assembly supported by perfect
rolling element bearings, the vibration spectrum is dominated by the vibrations at the natural frequency and the roller
passage frequency (RPF). By vibration monitoring, down times and risk of accident in highly productive industrial
plants (power generation, steel production), traffic systems (automotive, railway, aircraft), industrial manufacturing
(textile industry, lathe tool) and domestic appliances (washing machine) can be minimized. Sophisticated diagnostic
equipment based on acceleration sensors and conditioning electronics for signal acquisition, monitoring and processing
(feature extraction and defect/fault classification) has been developed [1, 2]. For investigating the structural vibration
characteristics of rail axle bearings, a model of the bearing assembly can be considered as a spring mass system, in
which the outer race of the bearing is fixed in a rigid support and the inner race is fixed rigidly with the shaft as shown
in Fig.1.
Clearance, which is provided in the design of bearing to compensate the thermal expansion, is also a source of
vibration and introduces the non-linearity in the dynamic behavior. The study of the effect of clearance non-linearity on
the response of axles has gained a lot of attention lately because of the development of high-speed axles such as space
shuttle main engine turbo-pump axle. Clearance non-linearity is different from most of other non-linearities because it
cannot be approximated by a mathematical series. The early work in axle dynamics by Yamamoto [1] introduces non-
linearity to the Jeffcott equation by including the effect of bearing clearances (or dead bands). The conclusion of this
* Corresponding Author
work shows that the maximum amplitude at critical speed decreases with increasing radial clearance and critical
speed disappears under the condition beyond a marginal clearance, which depends on the amount of unbalance. The
varying compliance effect was studied theoretically by Perret [2] considering a deep groove roller bearing with the
elastic deformation between race and rollers modeled by the Hertzian theory with no bending of races. Meldau [3]
studied theoretically the two-dimensional motion of shaft center. Both Perret [2] and Meldau [3] performed a quasi-
static analysis since inertia and damping forces were not taken into account.
Sunnersjo [4] studied the varying compliance vibrations theoretically and experimentally, taking inertia and
damping forces into account. Fukata et al. [5] first took up the study of varying compliance vibrations and the non-
linear dynamic response for the roller bearing supporting a balanced horizontal axle with a constant vertical force. It is a
more detailed analysis as compared to Sunnersjo's [4] work as regimes of super-harmonic, sub-harmonic and chaotic
behavior are found out. Mevel and Guyader [6] have developed a theoretical model of a roller bearing supporting a
balanced horizontal rigid axle, with a constant vertical radial force. This is similar to the work done by Fukata et al. [5]
but more results have been reported for parametric studies undertaken and routes to chaos traced out. Chaos in this
model of bearing has been reported to come out of sub-harmonic route and quasi-periodic route.
Arc length continuation technique has been used for obtaining dynamic characteristics of roller bearings by
Sankaravelu et al. [7]. This technique enables one to identify the possible parameter ranges for which the jump
phenomena or the sudden change of the dynamic behavior of the system occurs. The roller bearing taken for study
supports a constant vertical radial load of a balanced horizontal axle. Sankaravelu et al. [7] have reported that the arc
length continuation method takes less computation time as compared to direct integration, and the method obtains
steady state response and stability analysis simultaneously. The eigenvalues of the Floquet matrix are obtained with the
shooting technique, which gives the bifurcation points. Sankaravelu et al. [7] has taken the same system for study as
that taken by Fukata et al. [5]. This work reports the appearance of chaotic response due to the intermittency. Once the
stability sets in to the numerical integration, it is used to obtain the response. Tiwari et al. [8] have theoretically
analyzed the nonlinear dynamics of ball bearing and also performed the experimentation to analyze nonlinear response.
Garguilo [9] has developed a new set of equations for providing initial estimates of stiffness of rolling element bearings.
Yamauchi [10] developed a numerical harmonic balance method using the FFT algorithm for multiple degree of
freedom axle systems, including nonlinear bearings and couplings. Saito [11] calculated the nonlinear unbalance
response of horizontal Jeffcott axles with radial clearance. Both studies were concerned only with the harmonic
response. Childs [12] presented an explanation for the subharmonic response of axles in presence of bearing clearance
and side load. Choi and Noah [13] analyzed the coherence of super and subharmonic response in an axle bearing model-
using harmonic balancing method using discrete Fourier transform procedure. For multi disk axle systems, Nataraj and
Nelson [14] developed a periodic solution method based on a collocation approach for the response of axle. They
utilized a subsystem approach to reduce the size of the resulting system of algebraic equations. The dynamic responses
of axles in high-speed axles with bearing clearance have been studied by Ehrich [15-17]. These studies by Ehrich
showed the appearance of high subharmonic and chaotic response in the axle. Apart from super and subharmonic
responses, aperiodic whirling motions in a high-pressure oxygen turbo pump of the space shuttle main were also
reported by Kim and Noah [18].
In this work, the effects of radial internal clearance and axle speed of railway axle bearing system have been studied.
The appearance of periodic, sub-harmonic, chaotic and Hopf bifurcation is seen theoretically. The results presented here
have been obtained from a large number of numerical integrations; mainly presented in form of Poincar maps, phase
plots and frequency spectra.
2. Problem Formulation:
To analyze the structural vibrations in roller bearings, a model is developed in which the outer race of the bearing is
fixed in a rigid support and the inner race is fixed rigidly with the axle. A constant radial force acts on the bearing.
Elastic deformation between race and roller gives a non-linear force-deformation relation, which is obtained by using
the Hertzian theory. Other sources of stiffness variation are the cage run-out, the finite number of rollers whose
positions change periodically and waviness at the inner and outer race, all of them cause periodic changes in stiffness of
the bearing assembly. The governing differential equations are obtained by taking into account these sources of stiffness
variation.
A schematic diagram of a rail axle bearing system is shown in Fig. 1. In the mathematical model, the rolling element
bearings are considered as a mass-spring system and the contact acts as a nonlinear contact spring. The Hertzian forces
arise only when there is contact deformation, the springs are required to act only in compression. In other words, the
respective spring force appears when the instantaneous spring length is shorter than its unstressed length, otherwise the
separation between roller and race takes place and the resulting force is set to zero. The assumptions made in
development of the mathematical model are as follows:
1. The outer race is fixed rigidly to the support and the inner race is fixed rigidly to the axle.
2. The rolling element, the inner and outer races and the cage have motions in the plane of the bearing only. This
eliminates any motion in the axial direction.
3. The bearings are assumed to operate under isothermal condition.
4. Deformations occur according to the Hertzian theory of elasticity. Hence, only small elastic motions of the
rolling elements and the rings are considered.
5. The cage ensures constant angular separation (|) between rolling elements, hence there is no interaction
between rolling elements. Therefore,

b
N
t
|
2
= (1)
There is no slip of rollers as they roll on the surface of races. Since there is perfect rolling of the rollers on the
surface of races and the two points of roller touching the races have different linear velocities, the center of the
roller has a resultant translational velocity. The translational velocity of the center is,

2
outer inner
cage
V V
V
+
=
(2)
where,
R V
outer outer
=e
(3)

r V
inner inner
=e
(4)
Here the outer race is assumed to be stationary,
0 =
outer
V
. Therefore

2 2
r V
V
inner inner
cage

= =
e
(5)
Now the angular velocity of the cage (
cage
e ) about the center of the inner race is,

( ) ( ) r R
r
r R
V
inner
cage
cage
+

=
+
=
e
e
2
(6)
Since the inner race is rigidly fixed to the axle,
rotor inner
e e = . Therefore

|
.
|

\
|
+
=
R r
r
axle cage
e e
(7)
The roller passage frequency is:

b cage rp
N =e e (8)
2. Contact Stiffness
Hertz considered the stress and deformation in perfectly smooth, ellipsoidal, contacting elastic solids. Therefore, the line
contact between the race and roller develop into an area contact, which has the shape of an ellipse with a and b as the
semi major and semi minor axes respectively. The curvature sum and difference are needed in order to obtain the
contact force of the roller. Hertz equations for elastic deformation involving line contact between solid steel bodies are
given by Eschmann et al. [3] as:
( ) mm
l
Q
eff
85 . 0
925 . 0
5
10
05 . 4
= o (9)
Here l
eff
is the length over which rollers are actually in contact. The contact force is:
08 . 1 92 . 0
56065 o
eff
l Q = (10)
Hence, the nonlinear stiffness associated with the line contact is given as:
|
.
|

\
|
=
mm
N
l k
eff
08 . 0 92 . 0
56065 o (11)
2.2 Calculation of Restoring Force
The local Hertzian contact force and deflection relationship for bearing may be written as:
( )
2
3
i i
r k F
u u
= (12)
The radial displacement ( i r ) at the i
th
roller is given as
i i
y x r
i
u u
u
sin cos + = (13)
Considering the waviness and internal radial clearance, the contact deformation becomes
| | u u
u
+ =
i i
y x r
i
sin cos
(14)
Substituting
i
r
u
in the Equation (12), we get
( ) { } | |
2
3
sin cos
+
+ = u u
u i i
y x k F
i
(15)
The + sign as subscript in these equations signifies that, if the expression inside the bracket is greater than zero,
then the roller at the angular location i is loaded giving rise to a restoring force i F . If the expression in the bracket is
negative or zero, then the roller is not in the load zone, and the restoring force i F is set to zero. The total restoring
force is the sum of restoring force from each of the rolling elements. Thus the total restoring force components in the X
and Y directions are,
( ) { } | |
( ) { } | |
i i i
N
i
y
i i i
N
i
x
y x k F
y x k F
b
b
u u u
u u u
sin sin cos
cos sin cos
2
3
1
2
3
1
+
=
+
=
+ =
+ =

(16)
2.3 Equation of motion
The system governing equations accounting for inertia, restoring and damping force and constant vertical force acting
on the inner race are,
( ) ( ) | | ( )
( ) ( ) | | ( ) t F e y x k y c y m
t F e W y x k x c x m
u i i i
N
i
u i i i
N
i
b
b
e u u u
e u u u
sin sin sin cos
cos cos sin cos
2
3
1
2
3
1
= + + +
+ = + + +
+
=
- - -
+
=
- - -

(17)
This is a system of (N
b
+ 2) second order, non-linear differential equations. No external radial force is allowed to act on
the bearing system and no external mass is attached to the outer race.
The deformation of spring at inner race _
j
, (Fig. 2) can be obtained as:
j j out x j in
x x u u _ cos cos + = +
(18)
j j out x j in
y y u u _ sin sin + = +
(19)
From these two equations, the expression for _
j
is obtained as:
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) | |
2
1
2 2 2
sin 2 cos 2
in out j in out j j in out j j in out j
y y y y x x x x + + + + = u u _
(20)
Now the partial derivatives of _
j
with respect to
j
, x
in
and y
in
are:
( ) ( )
j
j in out j in out j
j
j
y y x x
_
u u

_ sin cos + +
=
c
c
(21)
( )
j
j j in out
in
j
x x
x _
u _ cos
=
c
c
(22)
( )
j
j j in out
in
j
y y
y _
u _ sin
=
c
c
(23)
The nonlinear stiffness of spring for the inner and outer race obtained by Eq. (11) is:
( ) |
.
|

\
|
=
mm
N
l k
in eff in
08 . 0 92 . 0
703 . 56065 o (24)
( ) |
.
|

\
|
=
mm
N
l k
out eff out
08 . 0 92 . 0
703 . 56065 o (25)
The derivatives of stiffness w. r. t. generalized coordinates are;
( )
| | ( )
j
j
eff in
j
in
l
k

_
o
c
c
=
c
c
92 . 0 92 . 0
256 . 4485
(26)
( )
| | ( )
92 . 0 92 . 0
256 . 4485
eff out
j
out
l
k

=
c
c
o

(27)
3. Computational Solution of the Equations
Equations (17) are nonlinear equations without possible parameters, so the classic perturbation methods can not be
applied directly. The equations of motion are solved by modified Newmark-| method to obtain the radial displacement
and velocity of the rolling elements. In order to eliminate the effect of the natural frequency of the system, an artificial
damping is introduced into the system, which has a constant value of 200 Ns/m. With this damping, transient vibrations
are eliminated. Thus, peak steady state amplitude of vibration can be assessed. The longer the time to reach steady state
vibrations, the longer CPU time needed and hence the more expensive the computation. To study the stability of the
system, parameters of rolling bearing are selected as shown in the Table I.
3.1 Initial Conditions
For numerical solution, the initial conditions and step size are very important for successive and economic
computational solution. Particularly for nonlinear systems, different initial conditions mean a totally different system
and hence different solutions. The larger the time step, At, faster the computation. On the other hand, the time step
should be small enough to achieve an adequate accuracy. Also, very small time steps can increase the truncation errors.
Therefore an optimization should be made between them. The time step for the investigation is assumed as At = 10
-5

sec. At time 0 = t the following assumptions are made:
i. The axle is held at the center of the bearing and all rollers are assumed to have equal axial preload.
ii. The axle is then given initial displacements and velocities. For fast convergence the initial displacements are set to the
following values:
6
0
10

= x m and
6
0
10

= y m. The initial velocities are assumed to be zero: 0

0
=
-
x and 0
0
=
-
y .
iii. When t t A ) the initial conditions have already passed and the normal procedure commences.
Rolling elements are radially preloaded in order to ensure the continuous contact of all rolling elements and the
raceways, otherwise a chaotic behavior might be observed.
3.2 Power Spectra and Poincar Maps
The time history of the unbalanced responses has been examined for periodic behavior. This is done by examining the
time series output, once per cycle, for sufficiently long segments so that multiple periodic and aperiodic behaviors could
be discerned from the post transient solutions. Frequency spectra and Poincar maps are generated for studying the
stability and nature of solution. Aperiodic behavior in a deterministic dynamical system is characterized by broadband
frequency spectra. In sub-synchronous frequencies, the significant energy shows the aperiodic nature of the response.
Poincar maps are produced by plotting one of the variables of the system, e.g. the vertical or horizontal displacement
against its derivative, once per rotational periodic of the system. For synchronous limit cycle, a single point in the plane
is repeated every cycle, while n
th
sub-harmonic is revealed by n and only n repeated points. However, Poincar maps of
chaotic system have a fractal structure, which can be used to identify chaotic states.
4. Results & Discussion
In this work, besides speed as a parameter of study, the effect of radial internal clearance is also studied. Both are
important parameters of study because even if it is inevitable, it can be controlled to a good extent. The equations of
motion (18) are solved by the modified Newmark-| method to obtain the radial displacement, velocity and acceleration
of the rolling elements. To study the behavior, parameters of the axle box bearing are selected. This is done by
examining the time series output, once per cycle, for sufficiently long segments so that multiple periodic and aperiodic
behaviors could be discerned from the post transient solutions. The obtained results in form of acceleration-time
response, FFT and Poincar maps are used to confirm the aperiodic nature of chaotic behavior. Speed response plots are
obtained for the combination of the above parameters under study. These plots are generated by numerical integration to
reach steady state when peak-to-peak (pp) values of x and y displacements are obtained. The overall response plot of
rolling element bearing for line contact with internal radial clearance 30 m and 45 KN radial load is shown in Fig. 3.
The overall response plot has a less rough appearance. The nature of solutions for various speeds is given in Table II.
Unstable region is shown in Fig. 3 bounded by lines A-A. Three regions of chaotic behavior are seen in this region.
Period one solution becomes unstable from 690 to 5850 rpm, because of periodic doubling bifurcations. The solution
undergoes pitchfork bifurcations till 1000 rpm after which at 1015 rpm the chaotic solution is obtained. Fig. 4 shows the
nature of solution at 1800 rpm. The roller passage frequency (RPF) and its harmonics (super-harmonic) character of the
frequency spectra is also brought-out by the Poincar map with the closed orbit. The presence of dense regions in the
orbit is indicative of onset of chaos.
For the first chaotic region 1750-2890 rpm, the loss of stability is also confirmed by the real part of eigenvector
getting positive. In this region, the periodic doubling bifurcations give way to chaos at about 1750 rpm and this chaotic
region extends upto 2890 rpm. The chaotic solution at 2800 rpm is shown in Fig. 5. The frequency spectrum has a dense
band structure as shown in between spikes of VC and its multiples. The fine-layered structure of the strange attractor is
also clear from Poincar maps. Further increase in speed returns stability in the speed range from 2910 rpm to 3450
rpm. At 3500 rpm the response becomes chaotic again as shown by the spectra of Fig. 6. As speed increases further upto
3800 rpm, the nature of chaotic character reduces as shown in Fig. 7. With increase in speed, the pitchfork bifurcations
(1T) solution is obtained till 4175 rpm after which at 4200 rpm the periodic solution is observed. Periodic doubling
bifurcation gives way to chaos at 4000 rpm (Fig. 8). The chaotic attractor is spread out and the broad band frequency
spectrum formed is also quite prominent.
As speed increases, stability returns by a torus solution, which is clear from multi-loop orbit of Poincar map at 4900
rpm as shown in Fig. 9. From 4920 rpm again pitchfork bifurcation takes place which leads to third chaotic region from
4950 rpm to 5400 rpm. In this region, the period doubling bifurcations give way to chaos at about 5000 rpm as shown in
Fig. 10 and this chaotic region extends upto 5400 rpm. Fig. 11 shows the chaotic solution at 5100 rpm. From 5450 rpm
to 5850 rpm there is period one unstable response as shown in Fig. 3.
In the present investigation, an analytical model of an axle bearing system has been developed to obtain the nonlinear
vibration response as a function of varying the number of rolling elements and wave numbers. From the obtained
response, the following conclusions are drawn. The eigenvalues of monodromy matrix cross from +1, so this becomes
an intermittent behavior of type I (Nayfeh and Mook, [23]).
5. Conclusions
The nonlinear response of a balanced axle with internal radial clearance has been demonstrated to be chaotic for some
specific combination of unbalance and rotational speed combined with radial internal clearance of races to provide
sufficient non-linearity. For cases, which are stable to free motion and not close to the neutral stability line, a limited
range of chaos can be detected. From the study of the response, the following conclusions can be drawn
1. Nonlinear dynamic responses are found to be associated with rolling element passage frequency. Roller Passage
Frequency (RPF) is a system characteristic and prediction about the system behavior can be made by RPF to avoid
resonance.
2. The axle bearing system has three high amplitude regions. The first region is one of periodic doubling response
where the period one response is unstable. This region also has bifurcations leading to 1T and 2T solutions. Chaotic
responses appear in this region, which has a strong attractor as compared to chaotic behavior in other regions. As
Fukata et al. [5] & Tiwari [8] have shown, this region forms around horizontal critical speeds.
3. Based on the characteristics of the dynamic behavior of the system, the nonlinear dynamic responses are
categorized as: First the system responses are periodic and are not sensitive to initial conditions or small variations
of system parameters as rotor speed and radial internal clearance. The predicted impact force also increases
smoothly. This well- behaved region permits the designer to predict the trends accurately and without ambiguity.
Second the system responses show mixed intermittent behavior as from observation they look like periodic nature.
These solutions are near quasi-periodic or sub-harmonic nature and are not sensitive to initial conditions but are
extremely sensitive to small variations of system parameters and operating conditions. For these responses, the
hidden danger is periodicity. The periodic response may lead designers to overlook its large sensitivity to small
variations of system parameters or operating conditions. Third the responses are highly unpredictable, either
periodic or chaotic and they are extremely sensitive to both initial conditions and small variations of the system
parameters. When chaotic, the predicted contact force is sensitive to initial conditions. Great care must be taken
from designer to effectively use these simulations for design of the axle bearing system for high speed operations.
4. The railway vehicle mounted with such kind of bearings, way become unstable at around speed of 117 km/hr and
may also show chaotic (severe vibrations) behavior at around 172 km/hr speed. This could affect ride behavior of
passengers adversely and may be dangerous in rail vehicle running.



Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the European
Commission under Asia-Link Programme ASIE/2005/111000.



Table I Geometric and Physical Properties used for the Roller Bearings













Table II: Nature of solutions for
0
= 30 m, W = 45.8 kN
Speed (RPM) Nature of solution
Upto 910 1T stable low amplitude
945 2015 Period 1 unstable (at VC and harmonics)
2050 3600 Onset of Chaos
3660 3850 Multi-orbits response
3915 4350 Chaotic with one strange attractor
4700 4920 Super-harmonics
4950 5400 Chaotic
5450 6850 Period 1 un-stable














Mass of rolling element (m
j
) 16 kg
Mass of the inner race (m
in
) 7 kg
Mass of the outer race (m
out
) 7 kg
Mass of one axle (m
axle
) 1487 kg
Length over which the Rollers are Actually in Contact Rolling
Rearing only (l
eff
)
8 cm
Reaction forces at each contact point 4675 * 9.81 =45.89 kN
6. References
1. Yamamoto, T., 1955, On the Vibration of a Shaft Supported by Bearing Having Radial Clearances, Trans. of
JSME, 21, pp. 182-192.
2. Perret, H., 1950, Elastic Spielschwingungen Konstant Walzlger, Werkstalt und Betrieb, 3, pp. 354 358.
3. Meldau, E., 1951, Die Bewegung der Achse von Wlzlagern bei geringen Drehzahlen, Werkstalt und
Betrieb, 7, pp. 308-313.
4. Sunnersjo, C. S., 1978, Varying Compliance Vibrations of Rolling Bearings, Journal of Sound and
Vibration, 58, pp. 363-373.
5. Fukata, S., Gad, E. H., Kondou, T., Ayabe T. and Tamura, H., 1985, On the Radial Vibrations of Roller
Bearings (computer simulation), Bulletin of the JSME, 28, pp. 899-904.
6. Mevel, B. and Guyader, J. L., 1993, Routes to Chaos in Roller Bearings, Journal of Sound and Vibration, 162,
pp. 471-487.
7. Sankaravelu, A., Noah, S. T. and Burger, C. P., 1994, Bifurcation and Chaos in Roller Bearings, Nonlinear
and Stochastic Dynamics, AMD-Vol. 192 / ASME, DE-Vol. 78, pp. 313-325.
8. M. Tiwari, O. Prakash and K. Gupta. Effect of radial internal clearance of a ball bearing on the dynamics of a
balanced, horizontal rotor, Journal of Sound and vibration (2000) 238(5), 723-756.
9. Gargiulo, E. P., 1980, A Simple way to Estimate Bearing Stiffness, Machine Design, 52, pp. 107-110.
10. Yamauchi, S., 1983, The Nonlinear Vibration of Flexible Axles, Trans. of JSME, 446 (49), pp. 1862-1868.
11. Saito, S., 1985, Calculation of Nonlinear Unbalance Response of Horizontal Jeffcott Axles Supported by
Roller Bearings With Radial Clearances, ASME J ournal of Vibration, Acoustics, Stress, and Reliability in
Design, 107, pp. 416-420.
12. Childs D. W. and Moyer D. S., 1985, Vibration Characteristics of the High Pressure Oxygen Turbopump of
the Space Shuttle Main Engine, Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbine and Power, 107, pp. 152 - 159.
13. Choi Y. S. and Noah S. T., 1987, Nonlinear Steady State Response of a Axle Support System, ASME
Journal of Vibration, Acoustics, Stress, and Reliability in Design, 109, pp. 255-261.
14. Nataraj, C., and Nelson, H. D., 1989, Periodic Solutions in Axle Dynamic Systems With Nonlinear Supports;
a General Approach, ASME Journal of Vibration, Acoustics, Stress, and Reliability in Design, 111, pp. 187-
193.
15. Ehrich, F. F., 1966, Subharmonic Vibration of Axles in Bearing Clearance, ASME paper MD-I, 66, pp.
281.
16. Ehrich, F. F., 1988, Higher Order Subharmonic Response of High Speed Axles in Bearing Clearance, ASME
Journal of Vibration Acoustic Stress and Reliability in Design, 110, pp. 9 16.
17. Ehrich, F. F., 1991, Observation of Subcritical Superharmonic and Chaotic Response in Axle Dynamic,
ASME Journal of Vibration Acoustic Stress and Reliability in Design, 114, pp. 93 - 99.
18. Kim, Y. B., and Noah, S. T., 1996, Quasi Periodic Response and Stability Analysis for a Nonlinear Jeffcott
Axle, Journal of Sound and Vibration, 190, 2, pp. 239 253.
19. Eschmann, P., 1985, Roller and Roller Bearings- Theory, Design and Application, NY, Willey.
20. Nayfeh, A. H. and D. T. Mook, 1979, Nonlinear Oscillations, New York, Willey.










Fig. 1 Rail Axle - Bearing Systems



Fig. 2 Schematic Diagram of a Rolling Bearing




Inner race
Outer race
j
u
W
e
in

Stationary outer
race
2t/|
F
u


Fig. 3 Peak-to-peak Displacement Response Plot with Axle Speed


0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 0 0 8 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 4 0 0 1 6 0 0 1 8 0 0 2 0 0 0
0
0 . 1
0 . 2
0 . 3
0 . 4
0 . 5
0 . 6
0 . 7
0 . 8
f r e q u e n c y H z
a
m
p
lit
u
d
e

m


0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
frequency Hz
a
m
p
l
it
u
d
e

m


Horizontal Displacement
Vertical Displacement
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(

m
)

Horizontal Displacement (m)
RPF
2RPF
2RPF
RPF



Fig. 4 Response at 1800 rpm



0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 5 0 0
0
0 . 1
0 . 2
0 . 3
0 . 4
0 . 5
0 . 6
0 . 7
0 . 8
f r e q u e n c y H z
a
m
p
lit
u
d
e

m


Poincar Maps
Poincar Maps
Horizontal Displacement
2RPF
RPF
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

H
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

Horizontal Displacement (m) Vertical Displacement (m)
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

Vertical Displacement (m) Horizontal Displacement (m)
H
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

VC - X

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
frequency Hz
a
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

m


Fig. 5 Response at 2800 rpm


0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 0 0 8 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 4 0 0 1 6 0 0 1 8 0 0 2 0 0 0
0
0 . 1
0 . 2
0 . 3
0 . 4
0 . 5
0 . 6
0 . 7
0 . 8
f r e q u e n c y H z
a
m
p
lit
u
d
e

m


0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
0
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
0.08
frequency Hz
a
m
p
l
it
u
d
e

m


Fig. 6 Response at 3500 rpm
Poincar Maps
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(

m
)

Vertical Displacement
Horizontal Displacement (m)
Horizontal Displacement
Vertical Displacement
Horizontal Displacement (m)
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t


(

m
)

2RPF
RPF
RPF
RPF/2
RPF/2
RPF
H
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

Horizontal Displacement (m)
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

Vertical Displacement (m)

0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 3 0 0 0
0
0 . 1
0 . 2
0 . 3
0 . 4
0 . 5
0 . 6
f r e q u e n c y H z
a
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

m


0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
0
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
frequency Hz
a
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

m




Fig. 7 Response at 3800 rpm

Poincar Maps
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t


(

m
)

Horizontal Displacement
Vertical Displacement
Horizontal Displacement (m)
RPF
RPF
2RPF
2RPF
4RPF
6RPF
10RPF
12RPF
3RPF
5RPF
Vertical Displacement (m)
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

H
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

Horizontal Displacement (m)

0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 3 0 0 0
0
0 . 1
0 . 2
0 . 3
0 . 4
0 . 5
0 . 6
f r e q u e n c y H z
a
m
p
li
t
u
d
e

m


0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
0.45
0.5
frequency Hz
a
m
p
li
t
u
d
e

m



Fig. 8 Response at 4000 rpm


0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 0 0 8 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 4 0 0 1 6 0 0 1 8 0 0 2 0 0 0
0
0 . 1
0 . 2
0 . 3
0 . 4
0 . 5
0 . 6
0 . 7
0 . 8
f r e q u e n c y H z
a
m
p
l
it
u
d
e

m


V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(

m
)

Vertical Displacement
Horizontal Displacement
Horizontal Displacement (m)
RPF
RPF
2RPF
2RPF
Horizontal Displacement
2RPF
RPF
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

Vertical Displacement (m)
H
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

Horizontal Displacement (m)

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
frequency Hz
a
m
p
li
t
u
d
e

m





Fig. 9 Response at 4900 rpm


0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 3 0 0 0
0
0 . 1
0 . 2
0 . 3
0 . 4
0 . 5
0 . 6
0 . 7
0 . 8
0 . 9
f r e q u e n c y H z
a
m
p
l
it
u
d
e

m


Poincar Maps
Vertical Displacement

Horizontal Displacement (m)

V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t


(

m
)

V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

Vertical Displacement (m) Horizontal Displacement (m)
H
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

Horizontal Displacement
2RPF
RPF
RPF
2RPF
9RPF
Horizontal Displacement (m)
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

H
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

Vertical Displacement (m)
Poincare Maps

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
frequency Hz
a
m
p
li
t
u
d
e

m



Fig. 10 Response at 5000 rpm

0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 3 0 0 0
0
0 . 1
0 . 2
0 . 3
0 . 4
0 . 5
0 . 6
0 . 7
0 . 8
f r e q u e n c y H z
a
m
p
li
t
u
d
e

m



0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
frequency Hz
a
m
p
li
t
u
d
e

m



Fig. 11 Response at 5100 rpm
Vertical Displacement
Horizontal Displacement (m)
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t


(

m
)

Horizontal Displacement
Vertical Displacement
Horizontal Displacement (m)
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t


(

m
)

RPF
2RPF
RPF
RPF
Horizontal Displacement (m)
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

H
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
a
l

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(

m
/
s
)

Vertical Displacement (m)
Poincar Maps