Engineering and Research Center A

Bureau of Reclamation

August 1979
IS-230 (3-78)
Urea" 0, R s C l M a U o o

REC-ERC-796
4. TITLE AND S U B T I T L E
-
5. R E P O R T DATE
Shaft Torsional Oscillations of ;-lydrogeperaiors August 1979
6. PERFORMING O R G A N l Z A T l O M CODE

7. AUTHORISI 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION

REPORT NO.
L. E. Eilts and Eugene Campbell
REG-ERG-79-6
'-
9. PERFORMING O R G A N I Z A T I O N NAME AND AODRES>% lo. WORK U N I T NO.

Bureau of Reclamation .?
Engineering and Research Center 11. C O N T R A C T OR G R A N T NO.
A
Denver. Colorado 80225
- , .
13. T Y P E O F REPOqT A N D PERIOD ,'
2 . S P O N S O R I N G A G E N C Y N A M E AND ADDRESS
, .,
COVERED , I!
., .;
Same
14. SPONSORING A G E N C Y CODE

5 S U P P L E M E N T A R Y NOTES

6 ABSTRACT

This report describes efforts to analyze, model, and instrument the shaft torsional osciliations of
electric generators. The mechanics o f t h e shaft torsional modes are presented through the defining
1
a;alytical equations from which block diagram and analog computer representation of shaft torsional
systems have been developed. Results o f a n analog study of the torsional mode of a hydrogenerator
as well as calculated data for several Bureau of Reclamation hydrogenerators are presented. An
instrumentationsystem which employes shaft-mounted strain gages to provide a torsional signal
has been developed for direct field measurement of the torsional behavior of hydrogenerator shafts.
The design and circuit configuration of that instrumentation system are presented. Results from field
measurements of the shaft torsional oscillations at three sites are also nresented.

K E Y WORDS A N D DOCUMENT A N A L Y S I S

DESCRIPTORS-- / anal?g computers/ electric generators/.elasticity (mechanical)/ dynamic response/

instrumentation/ mechanicsf natural frequency/ 'prototype tests/ hydroelectric powerplantsf reso-
nance/ rotating components/ 'strain gaged stiffness/ 'torsion/ vibration damping/

IDENTIFIERS-- / Flat~ronPowerplant. GO/ Grand Coulee Powerplant, W N southein Nevada Water

Prorect. NV/
COSATl Field/Group 09C COWRR: 09 03
DISTRIBUTION S T A T E M E N T 19. S E C U R I T Y C L A S S 21. NO. O F P A G E S
ITHIS REPORTI
;ilable from the NoLiooal Technical Informarion Service. Operations
vision. Springfield. Virginia 22161. , UNCLASSIFIED 25
20. S E C U R I T Y C L A S S 2 2 . PRICE
I T H l S PAGE1
UNCLASSIFIED
 sional oscillations included in this report and the desizn and devel-
opment of the torsional instrumentation system were performed 6y
personnel of the Eleztric Power Branch under the supervision of
Charles I.. Clemans. , .
. ,

Kichard C. Arbour. Head. Laboratory and Special. Pro-iects Sec-

tion. and Richard .I. Brown of the),Dams Rranch. Division cf
Dcsign. participated in the field tbsts conducted at the Southern
Nevada Water Project pumping plhnts in January 1978.
,
,..
The authors are indebted to regional and project perscnnel for the ,.
: opportunity to conduct developmental field testing of the torsional ,.-
instrumentation systems at Flatiron and Grand Coulee Powerplants
:I
and at thc Southem Nevada Water Project pumping plants.
,:<
'
;*

,-
-
,
..
.
Purpose .................................................................... 1
. . ..................................................................
Conclusions 1
Appllcat~ons ..... :: ........................................................ 1
...
Introduction ........................................................... :... 1
Mechanics of shalt torsional oscillations ....................................... 2
Torsional oscillations of a hydrogenerator shaft.. ................... : ........... 2

Analog modelling.. ....... ;. .................... :. , . ...................... 2 ,

Field experience ............ .:. ........ :. .......... ?. ................... 6
~~

~.
,.
......... .! ..............................
Shaft torsional instrumentation system..
,. .

General description
. . .......................................................
Circuit descr~ptlon........................................................
: ..,. ~

Appendix A .................................................................1 9
,

Appendix B ........................................................... 25
. ,.

%
TABLE A N D FIGURES
Table

I
i,
Calculated shaft Lxslonal d a t a . .
\(
........................................ 8,9

Figure
;
GenL'raltorsional spring-mass system ...........................
Simplified diagram of the torsional system of a
vertical waterwheel generator ..............................
Analog diagram for shaft torsional oscillations of a hydrogcnerator
Torsional response of the analog system ........................
Shaft torsional instrumentation system applied to Unit I at
Flatiron Powerplant.. ...... .; ...................................... 10
Torsional oscillation of Unit I at Flatiron Powerplant ..................... 10
Shalt torsional instrumentation system applied to Unit G I 9
at Grand Coulee .................................................. 10
Torsional oscillation excited by a 600-MW load rejection from Unit G I 9
at Grand Coulee.. ................................................ 11
Modified shaft torque instrumentation system applied to Unit 6
of Pumping Plant No. I of the Southern Nevada Water Project.. ........ 1 2
Shaft torsional oscillation of Unit 6 of Southern Nevada
Water Project. Pumping Plant No. I ................................ 1 2
Block diagram of the shaft torsional instrumentation system ................ 12
Torque sensor and frequency-modulated transmitter schematic.. ............. 13
Pulse receiver schematic ................................................ 14
Demodulator schematic. :. ...............................................152,
Schematic diagrams of the active filters .................................. 16
Block diagram 01 the torsional system of figure I ......................... 20
u
. ,. ~ - Tangential accslerdtion at the shaft ,'
surface
11, :" Rated speed i n r;min (revolutions pcr
minute)
11 Shaft outside diameter in inches px Generator rated powcr output in mega-
I),, Damping proportionality constant for watts
internal damping of shaft section S,, R Damping proportionality constant of
l)!.. Damping proportionality constant for rotating mass
internal damping of the shaft con- R, Damping proportionality constant of
nccting the turbine runner to the gen- .. the generator rotor
erator rotor R. i = 1. 2.3.. . . Damping proportionality
Total normalized damping. including constant of thc ith rotating mass
turbine .,runner. gcncrator. aod in- R, Damping proportionality constant 01'
ternal shaft damping the turbine rl~nner
(1 Shaft outside diameter in meters . .S,, ;. Shaft s c c t i o n connecting mass i to
(1; dl Time derivative mass.;
P Napcrian logarithm base AS ' Shaft surface deflection per unit length
.I' Damped torsional oscillation frequency at rated generator output power
in hertz .s La Plact operatar
:/it Undamped natural oscillation frequency 1 v ~.. Shaft surface deflection pcr unit length
in hertz due to torsional oscillation .,
R ..Gravitational constant (acceleration) T,, Mechanical starting time
If z Cycles per x c o n d in hertz. L:, Mxhanical starting time o f t h e gencra-
/I JZamping factor tor rotor
/I/> . ;-Horscpowcr L, i = I, 2. 3;: . . Mechanical starting time
I '-'>' Moment of inertia in k g n of the ith rotating mass
i, i = 1. 2. 3. . . . Moment of inertia ith 7;'~, Mechanical starting time of the turbinc
rotating mass in k g m runner
ti Shaft torsional spring constant I '. Time
A-,, shaft spring constant ofshaft IVRJ . Moment of inertia in 1b.ft2
section S,, (R M o m e y of inertia of the ith mass in
ti,.>, Per unit shaft torsional spring constant 1b.ft-
ti,,,, Synchronizing ioefficicnt of the swing Xr Capacitive reactance
cquation in per unit torque . per
. elec- .Y~ Inductive reactance
trical degree mp Angular acceleration of the generator
Overall shaft length in inches rotor
Overall shaft Icngth in meters a, Angular acceleration of the turbine
Moment o r torque r'Jnner
Rated moment o r torque i Synchronous machine internal torquc
Generator rotor airgap torquc angle
i = 1. 2. 3. . . . Moment o r torque ap- q, Generator efficient!,
plicd t o thc ith rotating mass ,: (-),, Constant angular shalt dellcction for
Turbine runner mechanical input torque rated generator outpui
Torquc disturbance (-1: Constant a n g u h r deflection of thc gcn-
Pcr unit torquc erator rotor
Per unit torque applied to the ith rotat- (3, i = 1. 2. 3. . . . Constant angular deflec-
Ing mass tion of the ith mass
Torque transmitted iron; the it11 mass (-), Constant angular deflection o f t h e j t h
to t h e j t h mass by the shaft scction S,, mass
Per unit reaction torque on the ith mass ?I, Constant angular deflection o f t h e tur-
,'
in response to torques transmittcd by bine runner
the shaft from the (i-l)th mass (?),-OJIC Initial condition of angular displace-
Per unit reaction torque on the ith mass ment difference (Note: All abovc
in response to torques transmitted by angles ((3) are measured with respect
the shaft from the (i+l)th mass to a synchronously rotating reference
frame.) '.
 ting mass
. . '
city of the
,G
w.. 17 = i; 2. 3. . . .-Angular velocity of the:
I tith device.
mlar velocir).
<,
llllltlll ~cn~ditin nfthcangul:tr\~clocity
n
o f the turbine runner
,&
IU , Angular velocity o i the turbine runncr ~ ~

. .
II Ohms
., 2
kll l~lioilsandohms
MW Mcgawatt ~-.
mA Milliarnoere
u a l to 1 ; 1000 mch
o r 10.'' larad
 a n a l y e . model. and instrument the torsional oscil- the natural torsional oscillations within the shafts
lations of-hydrogenerator shafts to gain additional of synchronous machines. There are t ~ v o haiic
insight into thc torsional behavior of hydrogenera- phenorncna which have spurred this interest:
tors and to assess the influence o f modern high-
initial-responsc static excitation systems upon thc I. Thc practice of employing series-capacitor
damping of the torsional oscillations. compensation to extend the stahilil? limits o l
long EHV (extra-high voltage) transmission lines
radiating from iargc gcncrating stations call
CONCLUSIONS introduce subsynchronous currents iolfrcquency
,/'),
60 1- on thc transmission lines. 4 s a rcsult
1 . Shaft torsional phenomena have been modc:i:d . the generator cxpcricnces pulsstingtorqucsat iru-
by appropriate mathematical equations from which
block diagram and analog computer models have
been devclopcd. , . - quenc j s equal to the sun; and difference o f nor-
m a 1 , ~ v s t e m frequency (60 Hz) and thc sub-
sync.l!..mous frequency. Should the frequency
o f thcsc.pulsating torqucs lie close to a natural,
. . -:

2. Hydrngenerators arc generally characteiized by mechanical torsional freqvsncy of thc shaft.'

; a single shaft torsional modc of oscillation which is dangerously severe stresses may occur in the shalt
adequately damped duc to viscous wdterwhee! .: and ultimately lead to its failure. Although the
damping. '
sum frequency is well remowd irom the torsional
rrequencies. the difference frequency ma) indeed
3. T h e large inertia of hydrogenerator rotors ,very lie close to atorsional frequency."
cl'fcctively limits the influence of the electrical'sys-
tem upon the mechanical shaft torsional vibrations. 2. The natural shaft torsional frequencies are
Consequently. it is relatively difficult to excite shaft gcnerall~~,~very lightly danipud: hydrngeneriltors
torsional oscillations by disturbances applicd to the arc. however. usually hetter damped rh..in-' .hteam-
. .,... ..~
generator. Morcoyer. gencratordamping isgenl)ritll? ' driven machines. The recent availability of high
inelfcctive in damping the torsional oscillatidns o f voltage power thyristors has led to control sys- ..
the shaft hccduse o f the large generator inertia. As
a result. a hydrogenerator excitatiorr s y s t ( n gen- '
tems such as HVDC (high voltagc direct-current) 3 .
converlers and HIR (high-initial-responsr) esci-
erally has negligible influcncc upon the s h ' a i tor- tation iystems which arc sulficiently potent and
sional oxillations. rcsoonsive as to influence shaft torsional oscill;i-
; t i o k The broad .band ciipability of tqcse static
4. An instrumentation systcm Tor prototype field control systems has made it possible to.:xcitcthc
measurcment of shaft torsional hehavior has been 'tursional modes of the shaft thrdugli.normal con- :,
-. ,
de\:elopcd and utilized to ohtain shaft torsional data trol action. Although the Bureau of Reclamation
from several units. i has n o H V D C transmission facilities. sewral HIR, - ,

excitation systcms have'been acquired in recent:

years. Such excitation systems - particularl?'
APPLICATIONS when equipped with PSS (povvZ?:s):stemstahili7.-
ers) - may indeed excite o r aggravate th'e natural
Thc information presented in this report is specific- torsional modes resulting in undue shaft strcsscs.,
ally applicable to hydrogenerators. However. most ..:
of thc results are equally applicable to other types T o assess the influence upon the n a t u r a l t o r ~ i o n n l;,~ ~
of generators providing suitable consideration is modes of the shaft from eithcr of t,hese sources. it is
given to inherent design differences.,The trsts at '~
first necessary to understand thc physics of thc tor-
Grand Coulee Powcrplant demonstr2te thc limited sional vibrations. This report describes effnrts to
influence which the excitation system may exert analyze. model. and, instrument shaft torsional oscil- ..
upon the shaft torsional oscillations. Conscqucntly. lations in order to assess the inllucnce 01' modern_
thc investigators plan no additional work on shaft HIP. excitation systems equipped with I'SS upon
torsional oscillations. However. the instrumentation -,the torsional oscillatiuns o f hydrogenerator shalts. ti
systcm may be further applied in measuring steady- However. most of the results arc equally applicable .$.
statc shaft torque (turbine output). to other types of generators. -..
.,
, . ,.
 MECHANICS OF
SHAFT TORSIONAL OSCILLATIONS
analog modcl. The damping-coefficients (turbine
1-hc shaft o1.a synchronous gcncrator generally con- runncr damping R,. generator damping R,. and
ncc~sscvcralrotating masscs. includingthegcnerator internal shaft damping D,;) arc. however. seldom
rotor. turbific rotors:and sometimes thc rotor of a accurately known and must be estimated. Realistic
rotating exciter as illus[rated in figure 1. Each sm.- practical values l o r R, and Ri have been taken ns
tion S,,of the shaft has a characteristic torsional 2.5 and 1.0. 'respectively. in stability studies and
spring constant ti,,and some inherent damping /I,,. excitatiolt and governi:ig system studies. T o reason-
In xddition. lhc rotating masses gcnerallj, contribute ably represent thc modest in~ernaldamping of the
tlicir own damping R, due to losses such a s friction. shaft st:cI. a damping coefficient of approximately
windage. viscous damping. and frequency-dependent 5 percer;. of that corresponding to critical damping
electrical loads on the gcnerator. 1-he resulting sys- may be used.
tem constitutes a coupled. torsional. spring-mass
system which is characterired hy 11 nodes of ~ s c i l l a - An analog study of thk torsional mode o f a 108-MW
tion. where 1 1 is the numbcr o f shaft sections. The unit in the Grand Coulee Powerplant wasconduclcd
equations appropriate for describing tlle system o f using the mode! and constants shown in figure 3.
iigure I are developed in appcndis A and a block Digital analysis of the characteristic equation of,lhis
diagram representation of tllis s y s t m is presented <
system revealed that the damping factor usell in
in figure A I . The system of figure I istypical of the study was actually 0.044. conscqucntly cwilla-
s t e a m driven alternators where there generally arc tions diminish to 10 percent in 8.3 cycles. '(1
se\,eral cascaded steam turbines and. therefore.
several characteristic modes of oscillation. Fortu- Several interesting conclusions from thatstudy are
nately. most hydrogenerators have only one turbine presented in the following. Analytical relations pcr-
runncr (the u~alcrwhcel).a generator rotor. and pos- tinent to the torsional behar,ior o f a hydrogenerator
sibly a rotating exciter. The hydrogenerators o(;. are presented in appendix H.
particular c o n c e ~ nare those with HIR cxcitatiori
systems which arc often' not shaft mounted. Thcsf! For t).pic;~l damping cocfficicnts. the observed
system!; thus posscss only two rotating masses -that damped torsional frcquenc:< / ' = C, differs
ofthc turbine runncr and the generatorrotor. Tlicrc- very little from the natural::frequency /;, which. as
fore. ~ h remainder
c of this report shall conccrn onl!,. presented in appendix ti. depends only upon the tur-
two mass systems. It should he noted. however. that bine runner and generator rotor inertias and the . ~

the addition of a rotating exciter will merely serve-~. t o r s i i j n a l spring constan! of the shaft.
to introduce an additional mode o f oscillation
(between the gcnerator and exciter rotors) which is ' A n expression for the rclative damping influenccs in
csscntially independent o f the osciifiation between the analog system o f figure 3 is given by:
the generator rotor and the turbine runner.

Hecause of tlie dist:ibution o f the inertia in a hydyo-

TORSIONAL OSCILLATIONS generator it is readily concluded that gcncrator
OF A HYDROGENERATOR SHAFT damping R, will be much less influential in damping
shaft torsional oscillations than either watcrwhcel
damping R, or internal shaft damping D,,. This uws
indeed substantiated by the study. Generator damp-
As pointed out in the preceding section. hydrogen- ing has a n insignilicant inlluence on the decrement
erators typically exhibit a sing!e principal mode o f o f the shaft torsional oscillations because thc large
torsional oscillation. A simplified diagram o f the mass of the generator rotor prevents it from respond-
turbine runner-shaft-generator rotor system o i a ver- ing with thc shaft oscillations. In the study. increasing
tical waterxheel generator is presented in figure 2. R, from zero t o 50 resulted in only a 4percent
This system may be described as in appendix A by increase in tlie damping ratc. Turbine runner damp-
equations 46. 4b. and 8s. From those equations. the ing was. however. quite effective in damping the
analog computer model of figure 3 wasdeveloped shaft torsional oscillations. For example. as turbine
to investigate the torsional mode of oscillation and runner damping R, was increased from rcro to 10 in
to provide insight into tlic torsional phenomena. the analog study. the damping ratc increased more
than six-fold (< increased from 0.044 to 0.282). Use of
Generally. the mechanical starting times of the gen- the realistic hydra'ulic turbine self-regulation ( o r '
and of tlie turbine runncr T;,,,. as
erator rotor 7;,,< damping) coefficient of 1.0 suggested in a preceding
 -
. ~

:,, -
\< '43
.~. -.
~ ~

'41

st3 s34

K2s 13 K34
O23 034

R3
Turbine rotor No.i Turbine rotor No.2 Turbine rolor No.3

R4

,. % Generator rotor
I,

S i i - S h o f t s e c t i o n connecting t h e i t h and j t h r b ~ o t i n qmasses.

M i -Moment or torque applied to the i t h r o t a t i n g m a r s .
O i - A n g u l a r v e l o c i t y o f the l t h r o l o l i n q mass.
Ii -Moment o f lnarlia o f the i t h r o t a t i n g moss. --
K j j -Torsion01 spring constont o f t h e s h a f t s e c l i o n Sii .
Dij -Damping ~ r o u o r t i o n a l i l yconstont f o r the intern01 dompinq o f s h a l l s e c l i o n Sii,
Ri -Dompinq p r o p o r t i o n a l i l y constant f o r t h e i t h r o l o l i n q mass.
 Rg : Damping c o e f f i c i e n t
Mg : Alrgap torque
Wg : Angular veloclty of the
generator r o t o r

Shaf t
Kpu : Shaft torsional sprlng constant
D t .Darnping p r o p o r t ~ o n a l ~constant
ty
9
f o r lnternol damping of the shaft

i
connecting the turblne runner t o
the generator r o t o r

@ Turbine runner
TrntX Mechanical s t a r t i n g tirng
R t ' Dornping c o e f f i c i e n t
Mt . Input toraue
! Ot Anguior v e l o c i t y o f t h e turbine runner

F~gure2.-S~mphlied dragram of the tors~onalsystem of a ventcal waterwheel generator

paragraph increased the damping rate approxi-
mately 5 0 porccnt ( 5 = 0.066) over that obtained . ..
with no turbine runner damping. It is notcd that omcter output to a useful signal was less attractive
steam-driven generators are characteriled by little than that used in the other schemes.
o r no turbine impeller damping which contributes
to their ncutc torsional problems. Consequently. mechanical shaft strain. a s measured
by strain gages attached to the rotating shaft. was
7 he amplitude of the shaft torsional mode excited selected as the signal source for recording torsional
h! ;I specilic torquc disturbance is shown in appen- osciliutions of the >haft.
dix H to be similarly related to the distribution of In May 1975. an instrumentation system that had
thc system inertia. That is. a one per unit torque been developed in the laboratory was initially field
input via the wterwhccl couples encrgy into the tested on unit I at Flatiron Powerplant (fig. 5).
sh;lit torsional mode much more effectively than a Those preliminary tests demonstrated both the feasi-
one per unit torque input from the generator: in bility o f the instrumentation technique and the suit-
fact. the torsional amplitudes arc related in\,crsely ability of the strain signal for recording shaft tor-
as the inertias. Consequently. electrical disturbances sional oscilla\ions. T h e torsional oscillation of fig-
to the generator lsuch a s laults. load rejections. out- ure 6 resulted from thc very small electrical dis-
of-step synchroni~ing.:ctc.) stress the shaft much turbance which occurred when the unit was tripped
less severely than hydraulic disturbances (such as from the line during a normal shutdown sequence
draft tuhe. penstock. o r waterhammer surges) o f by the operator. The measured shaft strain isaccord-
similar :~mplitodc. The large generator incrtin \-cry in& quite small.' but sufficient t o determine the
cl'l'ectivcly attentuates disturbances applied to the natural frequency of oscillation and the damping
shalt across the air pap of the generator. A sample tact.or. Both the natural frequency of oscillation and
shaft torsional response from the analog study is the damping rate are higher than generally expected.
prescntcd in figure 4. The observed ircqucncy o f presumably because of the relatively high speed o l
oscillation compares well with analytical predictions. the Flatiron unit I514 rimin).
The shaft torsional frequencies of hydrogcncrators With only minor scaling modifications. the same
generally lie in the range 5 to 15 H7altl1ough sonle- instrumentation system was used a t Grand Coulee
what higher frequencies o f oscillation may be ob- in September 1975 to record the torsional oscilla-
served for high-speed units. Table I summarizes tions of the shaft or generating unit G I 9 in the Third
calculated data related to the torsional modes of Powerplant (fig. 7). The torsional oscillations rc-
several Burcau o f Reclamation hydrogcncrators. It corded during a 600 M W load rejection test a r e
is p;~rticularlyinteresting to note that even though presented in figure 8. A particularly interesting
the ratings of the units listed in the table varywidely. observation from that test concerns an increase
thc pcr unit shaft torsional spring constant K,.,,only noted in the natural frequency of oscillation after
varies from I .? tn 2.7 per unit per mccl~anicaldcgree. the wicket gates have closed and as the draft tube
Field measurements have been made on some o f t h e pulls a vacuum, effectively unwatering tho turbine.
units listed and a r e discussed in table I . 1.l1.c observed rise in frequency is similar to that o l
the "wet" and "dry" turbines in table I . 1-he natural
Field e\perience frequency and damping rate of the torsional oscilla-
tions shown in'iigure 8 are more typical o f a hydro-
7.0 assess the rate at which the torsional oscil!.ations generator than those of figure h as esplained above.
o f a hydrogenerator are damped. and more specili- Tests on unit G I 9 at Grand Coulee wrificd that the
cally. to assure that thc damping rate is not dimin- influence of excitation control upon the shaft tor-
ished hy excitationcontrol. a n effort was made to sional oscillations is indeed negligible due to the
develop instrumentation suitable for recording the huge inertia o f the generator rotor. Excitation con-
torsional oscillations of thc shaft. Thrcc possible trol generally neither improves nor diminishes the
signal sources were considered: differential speed :,damping of shaft torsional oscillations of hydro-
mcasurcd across the shaft. tangential acceleration generators. Unit G I 9 tcsts also verified that theshaft
at the surface of the shaft. and mechanical strain o l torsional mode is excited much easier from thc tur-
the shaft. The differ~xtialquality needed to extract bine than from the generator - hydraulic disturb-
the small torsional component o f specd from the ances continually excite the shaft mode. Specifically.
output of available speed transducers made that it was observed that the strongest shaft torsional
scheme unattractivc. Transducers (accclcrorneters) oscillations were eicited during brcakaway. when a
suitable l'or rccordinc the shaft torsional oscillations suhstanti?l (possibly 10 to 25 perccnt) torquc is
by measuring tangential acceleration were awilahle. quickly applied dircctly to the turbine.
 .--.- 4.-Torsional
Fioure resnanse of the analog system 11.0 pcr unit dislurbancc applied l a
the generncur, R, = 1.0. R, = 2.51

In an effort to evaluate the performance of several small resulting in unusually large torsional ampli-
pumps in the Southern Nevada Water Project sys- tudes and a rather low natural torsional frequency
tem, simultaneous recordings of electrical power, for such a high-speed unit (900 r/min).
shaft torque, speed, and hydraulic pressure were
desired. Of these signals, only shaft torque was not The modified instrumentation system suitable for
readily available, although it was suspected that the steady-state torque or torsional measurements is
shaft torsional instrumentation system might he schematically presented and described in the iollow-
adapted to provide that signal. To accomplish the ing section.
measurement of pump shaft torque, the torsional
instrumentation system had to be modified to pro-
vide steady-state absolute torque rather than merely SHAFT TORSIONAL
torque deviations and the physical size of the rotat- INSTRUMENTATION SYSTEM
ing portion of the measurement system had to be
markedly rcduced to fit it on the small exposed por- General Description
tion of the pump shaft. The resulting instrumenta-
tion system shown in figure 9 was applied at the The instrumentation system is functionally divided
pumping plants in January 1978. Figure 10 is a rec- into two main parts (fig. 1 I). One portion is attached
ord of the torsional oscillation which resulted when to the shaft and rotates with it, while the other
the pump was started. The recorded oscillation was remains stationary. The portion of the system on
obtained by differentiating the steady-state torque the shaft consists of a strain gage bridge incorporat-
signal. Because the shaft of the particular pump ing four active gages oriented to sense torsional
examined (fig. 10) is unusually long and slender, strain in the shaft, an instrumentation-type differ-
the torsional spring constant is accordingly rather ence amplifier, an F M (frequency-modulared) pulse
 (ilcu C;$n?on ilmrc>n (intnd Cnulcc <,rand ~ O U I V E
lcrm -(ih I (i19, (i20. livmd Cc,ulse lil - l i l x 1' <;7 & 1, 1,x
liuncratnr Katcd output ................ MW 112.5 35 600 I08 11251t 511
Kated speed .............................. r , min 150 514 72 120 2110
Turhinu rated power* ....................... M W 115 35.8 618.9 111.1 129 50.7

Shalt nominal uutride diamelcr ............... m m IOl6 4x3 2540 Ill8 686
S11a11nr~minalinridc diamclcr ................ m m 203 102 2134 305 I60
torsional spring eonscant ........... 1X-mlradl 10" 0.895 11.079 12.089 0.712 0.208
S a r m a l i z d torsionrl spring constant ...
per unittdcg 2.181 2.120 2.652 1.45 (1.251 1.52

Generalor Ii,K'.. ..................... (kgm') 10° 3.034 0.075 1O7.0 7.332 11.653
l a r h i n u U K : ......................... (kp.m'l 10' 196.8 5.900 8428 303 911.bll
Turhine N'K: .. dry .................. (kgm') 10' 141.2 3.961 5562 227 611.6%

Gcncr:$toi !nechamcal *tnrtinf timc.. ............. s 6.65 6.25 10.14 10.72 19.261 5.73
l u r h i t ? c mcchilnicitl startin$ timc - dry .......... s 0.31 0.33 0.53 0.33 (0.291 0.53
l u r h i n ? mrchanic;ll rtarting timu.. ............... s 0.43 0.49 0.80 11.44 tU.381 11.79

Natural torsional l'requency - - d r y ............. HI 12.96 23.06 7.61 9.04 9.74

S u u r a l torsional frequency ................... H7 II.08 19.12 6.26 7.87 X.14

Katcd mamunt (torquel. ................ ( N W 10- 716 0.65 79.59 8.60 19.95) 2.39
A n f u h r shaft dclleetion at rated output ..... dugrec 0.46 0.47 0.38 Il.69 [0.8OI 0.66
t a l i l l shalt rurfucc dellrution ill ratcd output ...
mrn 4.191 1.981 8.357 6,756 (7.798) 3.937

I'citk nnguhr shaft torsinnill dunection:

From I pur unit gencralar torque ....... d e g r ~ ~ 11.1128 0.034 US128 0.027 10.032) IIIIX
From I pcr u n i l lurhinc torque ......... degrcc 0.43 0.44 0.35 Oh6 ;10.771 0.58

I'wh l n t s l rbslt torsional rurl'xe ddlrction:

F m m I [per unit feneralor torque ......... mm 'J.249 0.144 Kh10 11.269 (0.3101 0.4811
F r o m I per unir turbine torque ........... mm 3.813 1.844 7.747 6.477 (7.4931 3.454
Kcrated constants shown i n parcnthescs.
* Asruming a p n c m t o r cl'ficienq of 097.
*' l i n l c r r rpecil'ically indienrcd ilr dry. ull data arc givcn l o r a u i l l e r t d torhinu with the mark of thc water inch!ded n t h the
m;hr ol'llw torhinc.

generator. and a transmitter coil. The difference signal from the shaft to the stationary recording
amplifier serves to amplify the bridge unbalance device was selected. To obtain a relatively long
due to torsion and provides the voltage signal used battery life (i.e.. more than 24 hours of continuous
to modulate the frequency of the pulse generator operation) from a suitably small battery pack re-
via a VCO (voltage co;~trolled oscillator). The pulse quired unusually low bridge currents. The system
generator output is delivered to the primary of a designed has operated satisfactorily with a bridge
coupling transformer (coil) made up of a few turns current as low as 4 milliamperes (30 to 35 mA is
of insulated wire wound around the shaft and rotat- common in conventional strain gage bridges).
ing with il. The stationary part of the system. which
begins at the secondary of the transformer and is The low duty cycle (less than I percent) allows rela-
necessarily located in close proximity to the shaft. tively large amplitude current pulses to be circulated
is comprised of a pulse receiver. an F M demodula- in the coupling transformer while maintaining low
tor. an output amplifier. and signal filtcrs. Both battery drain. Variations in amplitude ofthe coupled
high- and low-pass filters are available to brackct pulses - as the primary of the coupling transformer
thc cxpected frcquency range of the anaidg signal. rotates - are inconsequential because the informa-
The filters are not always necessary. tion is carried in the frequency of the coupled pulses
rather than their amplitude. The symmetry of the
To avoid the signal noise and sliding contact proh- bridge circuit and the high common-mode rejection
lems commonly associated with the use of slip rings of the difference amplifier provide sufficient sta-
in strain gage bridge circuits, a n alternative method bility that adequate sensitivity to reliably detect
using transformer csupling for transmitting the torsional oscillations may be realized.
 Glen C a n ~ o n Flatiron Grrnd Coulec Grand Coulcc
Icrm G I .GX I a d 2 GIP. G2(l,(;1I (jmnd CouCc -'Ix p G , g p (;X

Generator Rated oillpul ..................... MW 112.5 35 600 108 (125)t 50

Rarud speed.. ............................. rlmin 150 514 72 I20 200
Turhine ralcd p o a r r *...... .............
.,:. h p 10' 155 48 830 149 073) 69

Shaft nominal outside diameter ................. in

Shaft nominal inside diameter .................. i n
Torsiund .ping conslant ............ (lb-inl rad) I W
....
N o r m r l i x d torsional spring constant pcr'unit!dcg

Generator I j ' R ' . ....................... (lb-it') 10"

'Turhin~. K R ?.......................... (Ib.ft2) 10"
Turhinc M'R' - drye*.. ................ iIb.it') lo0

Gtncmtor mechanical sraning t m e . . ..............

r
Turhine mrchanical starting lime -- dry ........... s
Turbine mcchanical starting rime.. ......... ;. .....
s

Natural torsional irequcncy - dry .............. Hz

Natural torsional frequency .................... Hz

Ksted moment (torque). ................. (1b.f~) IO* 5.28 0.48 58.7 6.34 17.34) 1.76
Angular shalt deflection at rated output ...... degree 0.46 0.47 0.38 0.69 (0.801 0.66
'Total shalt ruriacr deflection at ratcd a u t p u l .... mils 165 78 329 266 1307) I55

Pcak angular shaft torsional deflection:

From I per unit gencralor torque ........ degrec 0.028 0.034 0.028 0.027 (0.0321 0.08
From I pcr "nil turbine torquc .......... deeree 0.43 0.44 0.35 0.66 10.77) 0.58

Pcak 10131 shall torsional surfacc dcllcetion:

From I per unit gcncrotor lorqllc .......... mils 9.8 5.67 24.0 IU.6 (12.21 18.9
From I per unit lurhinc torque ............ mils 150.1 72.6 305 255 (2951 136
+ Rerated oonslantr shown i n parentheses.
* Asruming a gcncrltor etliciency of0.97.
'* Unlrrs rpueil'icall? indicutcd as dry. all data are c i w n l'nr a watered turbine a i l b thu mass of the wawr included \vith tllr

Circuit Description Pttlse receiver. -

Straingage bridge, amplifier, atzdp~rlsegenerator- The pulse receiver of figure 13consists of thc receiver
coil (transformer secondary). a field effect transistor
The circuit configuration shown in figure 12 follows input amplifier (QI). and four additional discrete
transistor stages in complimentary pairs. The ouiput
common practice: however. the use of integrated
circuits together with a very low duty cycle pulse from the final transistor is a 10-kHz pulse signal
which drives a 4518 C M O S digital divider. The
generator allows a small package with low battery
divider output provides a symmetric frequency-
drain (around 20 t o 25 mA. total). modulated squarc wave at a nominal frequency of
5 kHz which is routed to the demodulator circuitry.
The bridge amplifier (Device 521) operates with a
gain of 1000 and provides the signal that modulates
the frequency of the VCO (Device 566). The square
wave output of the VCO is differentiated by the The demodulator of figure 14 is a frequency-to-
47pF capacitor and the negative excursion of the voltage converter. commonly called a frequency
diffcrentiator output momentarily turns on the tran- transducer. The positive e x c ~ ~ r s i oof
n the 5-kH7.
sistor pair. The output transistor discharges the square wave signal From the pulse receiver closes
0.005 p F capacitor through the primary of the analog switch B (of Device 75 10) connecting a negn-
coupling transformer. The oscillator operates at a tive reference voltage from the power supply to
nominal center frequency of 10 kHz with a modula- operational amplirier O A l which is connected as
tion sensitivity of approximately 4.6 k H z / V .
 F i g ~ ~5.-Sharl
rc loraional instrurncntation S ~ S .
tcm applicd l o Unit I at Flatiron Power-
-
p l ~ n t May 1975. Photo CROI-D-79091

estimated amplitude
tt'--tCti--trl 1.7, ikhksiikh: ' i

estimated crest - I, = 26 Hz. 1 = 0.15

Figwu 6. 'forsion:il oscill;~tionill' Unit I at Flatiron Pnwcrpl;~nt--M ; I ~

29. I975
 Figure 9.-Modified shalt torquc instrumen-
tation system applicd to Unit 6 o f Pumping
Plan1 No. I o f thc Southcrn Nevada Watcr
Projcct - .lanuory 1978. Photo C801-D-
79093

~ i g u r cID.-Shafl torsional oscillation of Unit 6 of Southern Ncvada Watcr Projcct. Pumping Plant So. I - .l;inuary 13. 1978.

Rotating with shoft Stolionary

Figure I I.-Hlncl. disgram 01' the shaft torrional i~ntritmcntulionsystcm.

 wave. Two o:her scctions (C and D)
J - K H T squarc
- .
selection of a n i o r a l l of thefilters by simple patch-
of the analog switch together with operational ing connections. Cascade connection of all of the
amplifier 0 A 2 comprise a sample-hold circuit which available filter stages results in a fourth-ordcr hand- :.
transfers the voiisge from OAI to output amplifier pass type nf filter with adjustable low and high cut-
OA3. The remaining analog switch section ( A ) resets cff frequencies. The resulting filter exhibits good
thc integrator prior to the next posilive excursion. transient response (with little or no ringing or nvcr-
Output amplifier OP.3 provides d-c voltage pro- shoot) and-may be easily adjustcd to the spccific
portional ro strain. torsional mode sought.
Filter circuits.-
Two sccond-order high-pass and 2 second-order
low-phss tunable active filters shown on figure 15

J , i
,: :'
~.

.:

- ..

Corner f r e q u e n c y 3-~SHZ Corner frequency F 5 - - 6 0 ~ z

S e c o n d - o r d e r high pass f i l t e r Second-order low pass f i l t e r
6 C i r c u i t common .,~..
1 TORSIONAL DYNAMICS A Im : + 117,: - 111:1 - Rw:) = o,: (4b)
I
1 ,,,: .v
Considering masses i and j and connecting shaft
section S,,on figurc I. the following equations may etc.
he written:
i For the dynamics of connectingshaft section S,,. the
I For thc dynamics of the ith mass internally transmitted torque is proporlional to the
angular torsional deflection (0,- 0,) oftheshaft and
L
C nf, = rlw
I, -
(11 'I)
the internal loss is proportional to differential shaft
velocity. i.e..

expressing cquation ( I ) in per unit I!?,, = K,,1(9,-@,) + l>,,lw,-(0,) (5)

rlw, But
.A{< Cl,l, = ,,o,,<- 12)
(11 d
, - , = - (6, - , = . - , (6)
rh
whcrc .ZI, and m,, are rated torquc and rated angular
\,elocity. rcspcctively. or

rearranging equation (2) 0,- (4, = -

I lo,, - 0,) (7)
J

t3) ,o that equation (5) may be wrltten

From the dcfinition of the mmbanical starting time

of the itb mass I , = [% + D,,] (a,--,I (8)

For example. the torque transmitted hy shaft sec-

Ti,,, = "H?(W:), - / W,,
, , Seconds i'rom mass I to mass 2 is given by: .
tion S12
1.6 X 10hhp Mu
therefore. equatlon (3) become5

Equation 4a. 4b. and 8a which describe thedynamics

of masses I and 2 and the connecting shaft section
S,: are modelled in the block diagram of figure Al.
or in Laplace notation Similar equations describing the motion ofthe other
masses and shaft sections may be written and
l? IV, = T,,,to,, (3) modelled as shown in figure Al for the five element
system of figure I .
rearranging
The dashed portions of figure A l'are included to
show how thc shafi torsional model may be inte-
grated into stability studics or dynamic studies of
the excitation or governing systems to assess the
The torques applied to the ith rotating mass include interaction of those systems with the shaft torsional
the external torque In,. the shaft reaction torques modes.
ti?,-,. and ni ,,,,. and a damping torque R,w,.

Thus for mass I:

Shaft torsional oscillations of a two mass. single
I shaft system similar to that of figure 2 are charac-
- 1 - 7 - I = I (4a) terized by simple harmonic motion for which the
T,,, .v following equations may be shown to apply.
P r i m a mover
and r p a a d
Control system

I -
I Natural frequency f, of the torsional oscillations: And the differential angular acceleration (a, - or,)
becomes

a, - or =
d (0, - 08)
2
I Angular amplitude (C). - 0,),
-
of the torsional oscil-
lations resultine froma i:ormali~cd torcuu(n1oment1 = - (2 rf,J2
( 0 , - Op)pr.l sln 2n-fj 1101
I m input t h r o u p the generator:
Substituting from equations [6] and [7] and simpli-
fying:

a,-%
. 2
= --6 n f l sin dl,degree/second2
T-,
- m
sin 27rLt. per unitjsecond
Tm,

m The tangential acceleration a at the surface of the

('3 - 0 & ~ = shaft then may be found as
(27rfJ2 Tn,*

per unit, where 1 per unit = 6n, degrees a = -

D
24
(a, - ar) En
30
Assuming no damping, the shaft torsional oscilla-
tions may be represented by the following function -
-.
- - xDn,m sin 251fn1, feet;second2
of time: 720 Tmc

0 , - Qs = (0, - Q,),, sin 27rLr. degrees [El -

- - xDnnm
sin 2 4 1 , g's [I I] :j:
23 184TmK
Damping may be included by multiplying equa-
tion by e-aL where = 2 d n c is the decrement The shaft surface deflection dr per unit length due
factor. to the shaft torsional oscillations is determined by .,
From equation [El, the differential angular velocity
(w, - w,) may be obtained as As = -.%
0.36
($1 ( 0 , - Elt)

Substituting from equations [6] and [7] and simp& All the preceding relations written for a normalized
fying torque (moment) m input through the generator
may likewise be written for an i n ~ uthrough
t the tur-
n~ bine by interchanging T,,,, with 'T,? throughout the
w,- ww = - cos 27rfnr, per unit procedure.
2 4 Tm,
Also, all of the equations may be converted to the
-
- - 6nflcos 2rrS.1, degreejsecond metric equivalents by replacing 6nn and (DIL) with
2 rrf.Tn,, I80w, and ( d l / ) ,respectively.
Rated moment U , (torque)
7r O mlllimeterc
.%I,,= 7.043 X 10" P,Jrl,:. pound-feet . . . [I1 . . . metric
0.36 meter
U.S. customary

.&I,, = 10" P,:, w,,. newton-meters . . . mctric

where
11, = rated speed in re\'olutions per minutc
P , = gcncrator rating in megawatts
w , = rated angular velocity in radians per
second where
'
D = shaft outside diameter in inches,
Shaft torsional spring constant ti,,,in per unit d = shaft outside diameter in meters.
torque per mechanical degree. L = overall shaft length in inches. and
1 = overall shaft length in meters.
ti. in pound-inches:radian
M, Note: The overall shaft length is measured betwecn
the centroids of the turbine runner and generator
per unit/mechanical degree . . . U.S. 111 rotor.

= -
K,,,,
rr
180
(ti. in newton-meters/
M,,
radian Mechanical starting time T,,, of thc turbine runner
a n d i o r generator rotor is
per unitimechanical degree . . . metric
The constant angular shaft deflection (9,. at rated
gcncrator output 1s

, = 1degrees PI
ti,.,.?,
wherc =
, = gencrator efficiency lo-'. seconds . . . mctric
Px
Thc shaft surface deflection AS per unit length at Note: The ( W K ' ) or I is that appropriate for the
rated generator output is rotating mass for which T,,, is being sought.