Balancing of Machinery

Introduction
• When man invented the wheel, he very quickly learnt that if it wasn’t completely
round and if it didn’t rotate evenly about it’s central axis, then he had a problem!

What the problem he had?

• The wheel would vibrate causing damage to itself and it’s support mechanism and
in severe cases, is unusable.

• A method had to be found to minimize the problem. The mass had to be evenly
distributed about the rotating centerline so that the resultant vibration was at a
minimum.
Unbalance

• The condition which exists in a rotor when vibratory force or motion is

imparted to its bearings as a result of centrifugal forces is called
unbalance or the uneven distribution of mass about a rotor’s
rotating centreline.
Balancing
• Balancing is the technique of correcting or eliminating unwanted inertia forces or
moments in rotating or reciprocating masses and is achieved by changing the
location of the mass centres.

The objectives of balancing an engine are to ensure:

• That the centre of gravity of the system remains stationery during a complete
revolution of the crank shaft and

• That the couples involved in acceleration of the different moving parts balance each
other.
Types of balancing:
a) Static Balancing
• Static balancing is a balance of forces due to action of gravity.
• A body is said to be in static balance when its centre of gravity is in the axis
of rotation.
b) Dynamic balancing
• Dynamic balance is a balance due to the action of inertia forces.
• A body is said to be in dynamic balance when the resultant moments or
couples, which involved in the acceleration of different moving parts is equal
to zero.
• When the conditions of dynamic balance are met, the conditions of static
balance are also met.
 BALANCING OF ROTATING
MASSES
• When a mass moves along a circular path, it experiences a centripetal
acceleration and a force is required to produce it.

• An equal and opposite force called centrifugal force acts radially outwards
and is a disturbing force on the axis of rotation. The magnitude of this
remains constant but the direction changes with the rotation of the mass.

• In a revolving rotor, the centrifugal force remains balanced as long as the

centre of the mass of rotor lies on the axis of rotation of the shaft.
• When this does not happen, there is an eccentricity and an unbalance
force is produced. This type of unbalance is common in steam turbine
rotors, engine crankshafts, rotors of compressors, centrifugal pumps
etc.

• The unbalance forces exerted on machine members are time varying,

impart vibratory motion and noise, there are human discomfort,
performance of the machine deteriorate and detrimental effect on
the structural integrity of the machine foundation.
Balancing involves redistributing the mass which may be carried out by
addition or removal of mass from various machine members. Balancing
of rotating masses can be of

1. Balancing of a single rotating mass by a single mass rotating in the

same plane.
2. Balancing of a single rotating mass by two masses rotating in
different planes.
3. Balancing of several masses rotating in the same plane
4. Balancing of several masses rotating in different planes
Balancing of a Single Rotating Mass by a
Single Mass Rotating in the Same Plane
• Consider a disturbing mass m1 which is attached to a shaft rotating at
ω rad/s.
• r1 = radius of rotation of the mass m1

• M2= M1 r1 / r2 is the balancing mass which has to be attached

diagonally opposite to M
• Where r2 is radius of rotation of balancing mass M2
Balancing of a Single Rotating Mass by
Two Masses Rotating in Different Planes.

There are two possibilities while attaching two balancing masses:

a. The plane of the disturbing mass may be in between the planes of

the two balancing masses.

b. The plane of the disturbing mass may be on the left or right side of
two planes containing the balancing masses.
Balancing of Several Masses
Rotating in the Same Plane
Graphical Approach:
Step 1: Draw the space diagram with the positions of the several
masses, as shown.

Step 2: Find out the centrifugal forces or product of the mass and
radius of rotation exerted by each mass.

Step 3: Now draw the vector diagram with the obtained centrifugal
forces or product of the masses and radii of rotation. To draw vector
diagram take a suitable scale. Let ab, bc, cd, de represents the forces
Fc1, Fc2, Fc3 and Fc4 on the vector diagram. Draw ‘ab’ parallel to force Fc1
of the space diagram, at ‘b’ draw a line parallel to force Fc2. Similarly
draw lines cd, de parallel to Fc3 and Fc4 respectively.
Step 4: As per polygon law of forces, the closing side ‘ae’ represents the
resultant force in magnitude and direction as shown in vector diagram.

Step 5: The balancing force is then , equal and opposite to the resultant
force.

Step 6: Determine the magnitude of the balancing mass ( m ) at a given

radius of rotation ( r ).
Balancing of Several Masses
Rotating in Different Planes
In order to have a complete balance of the several revolving masses in
different planes,

1. the forces in the reference plane must balance, i.e., the resultant
force must be zero and
2. the couples about the reference plane must balance i.e., the
resultant couple must be zero.

• Example:
Consider four masses m1, m2, m3 and m4 attached to the rotor at
radii r1, r2, r3 and r4 respectively. The masses m1, m2, m3 and m4 rotate in
planes 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
• Choose a reference plane at ‘O’ so that the distance of the planes 1, 2, 3 and 4
from ‘O’ are L1, L2 , L3 and L4 respectively. The reference plane chosen is plane ‘L’.
Choose another plane ‘M’ between plane 3 and 4 as shown.
• Plane ‘M’ is at a distance of Lm from the reference plane ‘L’. The distances of all
the other planes to the left of ‘L’ may be taken as negative( -ve) and to the right
may be taken as positive (+ve).
• The magnitude of the balancing masses mL and mM in planes L and M
may be obtained by following the steps given below.
1. Tabulate the given data as shown after drawing the sketches of
position of planes of masses and angular position of masses. The
planes are tabulated in the same order in which they occur from left
to right.
2. Construct the couple polygon first. (The couple polygon can be
drawn by taking a convenient scale) Add the known vectors and
considering each vector parallel to the radial line of the mass draw
the couple diagram. Then the closing vector will be ‘mM rM LM’.
3. Now draw the force polygon (The force polygon can be drawn by
taking a convenient scale) by adding the known vectors along with
‘mM rM’. The closing vector will be ‘mL rL’. This represents the
balanced force.
Exercises
1. A shaft carries 5 masses at positions A, B, C, D & E. Magnitude of the
masses are 20 kg, 25 kg, 30 kg and 24 kg and 20 kg respectively. The
masses are at radii of 250 mm, 160 mm, 100 mm, 200 mm ad 300 mm
respectively. The angular positions measured in the anticlockwise
direction from A are respectively, OA - 0°, 45°, 90°, 120° and 240°.
Determine the unbalanced force acting on the spindle at a speed of 240
rpm and calculate magnitude and angular position of balancing mass to
be attached at a radius of 180 mm.
2. A shaft carries 5 masses at positions A, B, C, D & E. Magnitude of the
masses are 20 kg, 25 kg, 30 kg and 24 kg and 20 kg respectively. The masses
are at radii of 250 mm, 160 mm, 100 mm, 200 mm ad 300 mm respectively.
The angular positions measured in the anticlockwise direction from A are
respectively, OA - 0°, 45°, 90°, 120° and 240°. Determine the unbalanced
force acting on the spindle at a speed of 240 rpm and calculate magnitude
and angular position of balancing mass to be attached at a radius of 180
mm.
3. A rotating shaft carries four unbalanced masses 18 Kg, 14 Kg, 16 Kg, 12
Kg at radii 5 cm, 6 cm, 7cm and 6cm respectively. The 2 nd, 3rd and 4th masses
revolve in planes 8cms, 16cms and 28cms respectively measured from the
plane of the first mass and are angularly located at 60°, 135° and 270°
respectively measured clockwise from the first mass looking from this mass
end of the shaft. The shaft is dynamically balanced by two masses, both
located at 5cm radii and revolving in planes midway between those of 1 st
and 2nd masses and midway between those of 3rd and 4th masses. Determine
the magnitudes of the masses and their respective angular positions.
4. A shaft carries four masses A, B, C and D wh.ch are
placed in parallel planes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. The
unbalanced masses at planes B and C are 3.6 kg and 2.5 kg respectively
and both are assumed to be concentrated at a radius of 25 mm while
the masses in planes A and D are both at radius of 40 mm. The angle
between the planes B and C is 100° and that between B and A is 190°,
both angles being measured in counterclockwise direction from the
plane B. The planes containing A and B are 250 mm apart and those
containing B and C are 500 mm. If the shaft is to be completely
balanced, determine
(i) Masses at the planes A and D.
(ii) The distance between the planes C and D.
(iii) The angular position of mass D.
5. A shaft is attached with four masses A, B, C and D of magnitudes W
N, 300N, 500 N and 400 N at radii of 18, 24,12,15 cms. The planes
containing masses B and C are 30 cm apart. The angle between B and C
is 90° and C is vertical. B and C make 210°and 120° respectively with D
when measured in the same sense. For perfect balance of the shaft
find:-
a.) Weight and angular position of mass A.
b.) Positions of planes A and D.