Mobility/Impedance Methods: A Guide for Application

Mobility and impedance methods provide extremely efficient and robust journal orbit/trajectory calculation through use of bearing characteristics stored (at least conceptually) in the form of widely-available “maps.” These inversely-related methods are widely used for design optimization and for dynamic system analysis, both of which are often computationally intensive. All concepts and data sources necessary for straightforward application to both rotating and reciprocating machinery are identified and presented in some detail in this brief note.