Device asymmetries and the effect of the rotor run-up in a two-plane automatic ball balancing system

We present a numerical investigation of a two-plane automatic ball balancer (ABB) for rotating machinery. This device consists of a pair of circular races that are set perpendicular to the shaft in two distinct planes. Within each race are a series of balancing balls which move to compensate any mass imbalance arising from rotor eccentricity or misalignment. We build upon an earlier bifurcation analysis of the steady state dynamics to consider device asymmetries such as non equal ball masses and we also investigate the effect of the rotor run-up.