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    Turbocharger Balancing (Melett Company)

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    mick.pride81
    The document discusses the importance of balancing the center housing rotating assembly (CHRA) when repairing turbochargers. Smaller turbochargers used in passenger vehicles must now be balanced at high speeds, unlike larger commercial vehicle turbos in the past. Failure to properly balance the CHRA can lead to excessive vibration, noise, bearing failure and premature turbo failure. Using lower quality replacement parts also makes the CHRA harder to balance accurately. All CHRAs, even those where only seals are replaced, must be rebalanced on high speed equipment to maximize turbocharger lifespan.

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    Turbocharger Balancing (Melett Company)

    Uploaded by

    mick.pride81
    37 views3 pages
    The document discusses the importance of balancing the center housing rotating assembly (CHRA) when repairing turbochargers. Smaller turbochargers used in passenger vehicles must now be balanced at high speeds, unlike larger commercial vehicle turbos in the past. Failure to properly balance the CHRA can lead to excessive vibration, noise, bearing failure and premature turbo failure. Using lower quality replacement parts also makes the CHRA harder to balance accurately. All CHRAs, even those where only seals are replaced, must be rebalanced on high speed equipment to maximize turbocharger lifespan.

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    The document discusses the importance of balancing the center housing rotating assembly (CHRA) when repairing turbochargers. Smaller turbochargers used in passenger vehicles must now be balanced at high speeds, unlike larger commercial vehicle turbos in the past. Failure to properly balance the CHRA can lead to excessive vibration, noise, bearing failure and premature turbo failure. Using lower quality replacement parts also makes the CHRA harder to balance accurately. All CHRAs, even those where only seals are replaced, must be rebalanced on high speed equipment to maximize turbocharger lifespan.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    37 views3 pages

    Turbocharger Balancing (Melett Company)

    Uploaded by

    mick.pride81
    The document discusses the importance of balancing the center housing rotating assembly (CHRA) when repairing turbochargers. Smaller turbochargers used in passenger vehicles must now be balanced at high speeds, unlike larger commercial vehicle turbos in the past. Failure to properly balance the CHRA can lead to excessive vibration, noise, bearing failure and premature turbo failure. Using lower quality replacement parts also makes the CHRA harder to balance accurately. All CHRAs, even those where only seals are replaced, must be rebalanced on high speed equipment to maximize turbocharger lifespan.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 3

    CHRA Balancing – A

    Critical Part in
    Turbocharger Repair

    The turbo repair industry is a well-established global market, which goes


    back to the 1960’s. Up until the late 1990’s, the turbo repair market was
    predominantly involved in the repair of larger commercial vehicle turbos.
    Since the explosion of common rail turbo diesels for passenger cars and
    the more recent trend of downsizing gasoline/petrol engines through
    turbocharging, the repair industry has also significantly increased to deal
    with the large percentage of much smaller turbos. This in turn has
    significantly increased the demand for high speed balancing.
    What is a CHRA?
    A complete turbocharger is essentially a Centre Housing Rotating
    Assembly (CHRA or core assembly) with housings fitted to each side. The
    turbine housing directs exhaust gas to power the turbine wheel, the
    compressor housing directs air into the engine. The turbine housing will
    have a wastegate to control the turbine speed, or as is more common on
    diesel engines, there is a variable vane mechanism giving much better
    control of the turbo, reducing lag and improving performance. The
    wastegate or vane mechanism is controlled by an actuator – which could
    be controlled either electronically or by a vacuum system.
    The CHRA is a rotor (turbine wheel one side, compressor wheel on the
    other) which is held in a bearing system allowing it to rotate at high speed
    on a pressurised oil film similar to the engine. Turbo remanufacturer’s
    traditionally strip the complete turbocharger and CHRA, examine all the
    individual components, replacing these where necessary, and install brand
    new bearings and seals.
    Why do you need to rebalance a CHRA?
    In exactly the same way in which a wheel needs balancing after changing
    the tyre, the CHRA also needs balancing after it has been dismantled and
    rebuilt.
    It is important to understand, all objects which rotate around a centre axis
    have a certain amount of unbalance and this unbalance will create a
    resonant frequency – or vibration – at specific rpm. The speed and
    strength of the vibration is directly related to the amount of unbalance
    within the CHRA. To compare this to the car wheel,  the vibration would be
    felt in the steering wheel. However, if the wheel is balanced more
    accurately, the resonant frequency is both reduced and moves to a higher
    rpm – which is above the fastest speed of the vehicle therefore solving the
    problem.
    The turbo CHRA is a complex piece of machinery which has been
    designed to operate at temperatures up to 800°C whilst reaching rotational
    speeds in excess of 230,000rpm (that’s over 3,800 revolutions per
    second!).
    To operate under such extreme conditions each component in the
    turbocharger, which make up the main rotor in the CHRA, is manufactured
    to some of the tightest tolerances in the automotive industry (as low as
    0.002mm).  The turbine and compressor wheels are also precision
    engineered and balanced on specialist equipment as part of the
    manufacturing process. However, when the rotor is assembled, the
    accumulation of the remaining tiny imbalance in all the parts can create a
    rotor, which is out of balance, and will vibrate at critical speeds within the
    CHRA operating range.
    In the same way a car wheel is balanced at low speeds, traditionally, the
    larger commercial turbo rotors were balanced at lower speeds. By
    achieving a certain level of balance precision at low speed, the resonant
    frequency of the rotor would be well above the operating speed of the
    turbo. However, as turbos became smaller, the rotational speed increased
    significantly so that the small turbo CHRA now passes through resonant
    frequencies within its operating range. To ensure these smaller CHRA do
    not vibrate excessively during operation, they must be balanced on a high
    speed balancing machine which is capable of accelerating the CHRA
    through its full operating speed and measuring the vibration as the rotor
    passes through resonant frequencies. In over 99% of tests, the unbalanced
    CHRA has vibrations outside acceptable limits and must be further
    balanced to ensure the turbo will operate correctly.
    What are the effects of not balancing a CHRA and the damages
    caused by this?
    Failure to balance the CHRA on specialist equipment can cause excessive
    vibrations as the turbo speeds up, resulting in noise (whistling) and a
    breakdown of the oil film in the bearings. This in turn will cause premature
    failure of the bearing system, often with no obvious signs of lack of
    lubrication or oil contamination.
    Importantly, the life of the turbo will be significantly reduced if the CHRA is
    not properly balanced – in worst cases the turbo will make unacceptable
    noise during operation and fail within days.
    What are the effects of using lower quality components on
    balancing?
    As a result of the high rotational speeds, the level of precision in the
    manufacturing of replacement turbo parts is extremely high. Quite simply,
    using lower quality repair parts makes the CHRA harder to balance. This in
    turn means that low quality CHRA are often not balanced to the correct
    level and will fail much earlier than expected.
    Using parts which are not precision manufactured to the specified flatness,
    tolerances or dimensions, can lead to an accumulation of component
    imbalance issues, again causing premature failure of the turbo.
    Does every CHRA need to be rebalanced?
    CHRA, which have a turbine wheel diameter less than around 50mm, will
    pass through a resonant frequency during normal operation. As a guide,
    this will cover all turbos fitted to diesel engines up to about a 4L capacity.
    All CHRA must be rebalanced – even if all the same components are used
    – the act of loosening and retightening the shaft nut will change the precise
    balance of the rotor – so it is not possible to carefully dismantle a turbo, fit
    a new seal and rebuild. ALL CHRA must be high speed balanced.
    The key to maximising the lifespan of a repaired turbocharger is to use
    quality, precision manufactured and balanced components, use the
    appropriate CHRA high speed balancing equipment and ensure the careful
    assembly and calibration of the turbo.
     
    Date published - 26/11/2014

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