Special Rotordynamics Course Spring

PRACTICAL ROTORDYNAMICS FOR REAL MACHINERY

In-Person Course

Spring 2026 (April 20-23)

Sarasota, Florida

Virtual Course

Fall 2026 (October 12-15)

10 AM - 7 PM Eastern Time

Cost = $3000

www.rotordynamicscourse.com

Dear Clients, Friends, & Associates:

As a result of the highly favorable reviews we received for its first 20 or so offerings in 2012 through 2025, I am pleased to announce that we will be repeating our week-long rotordynamics training course twice in 2026 - once in April and once in October. The course, entitled “Practical Rotordynamics for Real Machinery” will first be presented the week of 20 April 2026 in Sarasota, Florida (anybody like beaches, golf, or tennis?). The second opportunity of the same course will be a virtual option that will be presented the week of 12 October 2026.

Since the course focuses on three major topics, we have three expert instructors participating, as follows:

Lateral Rotordynamics – Malcolm Leader, P.E. (President - Applied Machinery Dynamics)
Malcolm has long been known as one of the best rotordynamicists in the world and is also well-known for his keen troubleshooting abilities. He has written several dozen papers on these topics.
Bearings – Dr. Erik Swanson, P.E. (President - Xdot Engineering and Analysis)
In addition to traditional fluid-film bearings, Erik is well-known for his expertise in foil and magnetic bearings. Additionally, Erik is a wizard at using the DYROBES rotor/bearing computer code, which all of the presented case studies have been done in.
Torsional Vibration – Mark A. Corbo, P.E. (President - No Bull Engineering)
In addition to having authored some of the most well-known and best-received papers on the subject, I am currently serving as the Chair for the Torsional section of the API 684 rotordynamics tutorial.

Although the syllabus from past courses will probably be “tweaked” a bit, some of the topics that will be addressed in depth include the following:

Fundamentals/Basics
Relevance of the various topics (i.e., why do we even care about this?)
Modeling tips
Undamped critical speed maps
Unbalance response analysis
Rotordynamic instability
High pressure compressor stability analysis
Pump rotordynamic considerations
Fluid-film bearing types
Tilting-pad bearings
Specialized bearings (i.e., magnetic bearings, foil bearings, etc.)
Seals
Undamped torsional analysis
Torsional Campbell diagrams
Variable frequency drives
Torsional response analysis
Synchronous motor start-up analysis
Reciprocating machine torsionals
Machinery specific considerations
API specifications and compliance
Case studies
Testing

Each presentation of the course, which will cover all of the above topics, will run from Monday through Thursday and cost $3000 per participant. In addition to the formal sessions, all attendees of the in-person course will be treated to dinner at a local restaurant on Monday evening, which always serves as an excellent "ice-breaker". There will also be plenty of time for informal interaction with all three instructors, including breaks and lunches.

Some of the benefits you would receive from taking this course include the following:

A greater familiarity with lateral and torsional rotordynamics which would allow you to communicate more effectively with experts in the field.
A better understanding of the meaning and validity of rotordynamic results obtained from consultants and/or in-house rotordynamic codes.
A better understanding of the rotordynamic causes of common rotating equipment problems which would assist you when trying to troubleshoot field and test-stand problems.
A better feel for which system elements play an important role in rotordynamic behavior and which ones have little impact. This would be valuable when evaluating potential design changes.
An appreciation that rotordynamic analysis can be performed in a practical and timely manner and does not require a “research project.”
An appreciation for the large role that rotordynamic behavior plays in the reliability of rotating equipment and for the importance of evaluating that behavior in the design stage.

To learn more about the course, please either e-mail me or call me personally at (802) 558-0116. To register, all you need to do is go to www.rotordynamicscourse.com.

Hope to see you there!

Best Regards,

Mark

Mark A. Corbo, P.E.

President & Chief Engineer