Final degree project: a dynamic study of fractured shafts submitted to only gravity load

Mestrado em Engenharia Mecânica ; This work is a reflection of the investigation on the field of rotor dynamics. The study of the dynamic behaviour of a cracked shaft is important not only to predict when the failure might occur but also to know at what extent it can still work in safe conditions. The nonlinearity of this behaviour can be studied through a FEM model and can provide a breakthrough to get raw data analysis of the breathing mechanism that occurs in dynamic cracked shafts submitted only to gravity load. The study of the breathing mechanism has been one of the directions that the field of rotor dynamics uses to obtain more data for an overall analysis of a cracked shaft behaviour.