Tutorial: Fluid Film Bearings in Power Generation Equipment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyle Branagan
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Fluid Film ◽  
Fluid Film Bearings ◽  
Power Generation Equipment

scholarly journals Improvement of Tilting-Pad Journal Bearing Operating Characteristics by Application of Eddy Grooves

Lubricants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Eckhard Schüler ◽  
Olaf Berner
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Journal Bearing ◽  
Load Capacity ◽  
Fluid Film ◽  
Operating Characteristics ◽  
Fluid Film Bearings ◽  
Tilting Pad ◽  
Bearing Load ◽  
Bearing Loads ◽  
Tilting Pad Journal Bearing

In high speed, high load fluid-film bearings, the laminar-turbulent flow transition can lead to a considerable reduction of the maximum bearing temperatures, due to a homogenization of the fluid-film temperature in radial direction. Since this phenomenon only occurs significantly in large bearings or at very high sliding speeds, means to achieve the effect at lower speeds have been investigated in the past. This paper shows an experimental investigation of this effect and how it can be used for smaller bearings by optimized eddy grooves, machined into the bearing surface. The investigations were carried out on a Miba journal bearing test rig with Ø120 mm shaft diameter at speeds between 50 m/s–110 m/s and at specific bearing loads up to 4.0 MPa. To investigate the potential of this technology, additional temperature probes were installed at the crucial position directly in the sliding surface of an up-to-date tilting pad journal bearing. The results show that the achieved surface temperature reduction with the optimized eddy grooves is significant and represents a considerable enhancement of bearing load capacity. This increase in performance opens new options for the design of bearings and related turbomachinery applications.

Evaluation of the Rotor Temperature Distribution of an Automotive Turbocharger Under Hot Gas Conditions Including Indirect Experimental Validation

2021 ◽  
Vol 143 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Zeh ◽  
Ole Willers ◽  
Thomas Hagemann ◽  
Hubert Schwarze ◽  
Jörg Seume
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Distribution ◽  
Heat Flow ◽  
Internal Combustion Engines ◽  
Fluid Film ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Inlet Temperature ◽  
Hot Gas ◽  
Experimental Identification ◽  
Fluid Film Bearings ◽  
Validation Parameters

Abstract While turbocharging is a key technology for improving the performance and efficiency of internal combustion engines, the operating behavior of the turbocharger is highly dependent on the rotor temperature distribution as it directly modifies viscosity and clearances of the fluid film bearings. Since a direct experimental identification of the rotor temperature of an automotive turbocharger is not feasible at an acceptable expense, a combination of numerical analysis and experimental identification is applied to investigate its temperature characteristic and level. On the one hand, a numerical conjugate heat transfer (CHT) model of the automotive turbocharger investigated is developed using a commercial CFD-tool and a bidirectional, thermal coupling of the CFD-model with thermohydrodynamic lubrication simulation codes is implemented. On the other hand, experimental investigations of the numerically modeled turbocharger are conducted on a hot gas turbocharger test rig for selected operating points. Here, rotor speeds range from 64.000 to 168.000 rpm. The turbine inlet temperature is set to 600 °C and the lubricant is supplied at a pressure of 300 kPa with 90 °C to ensure practically relevant boundary conditions. Comparisons of measured and numerically predicted local temperatures of the turbocharger components indicate a good agreement between the analyses. The calorimetrically determined frictional power loss of the bearings as well as the floating ring speed are used as additional validation parameters. Evaluation of heat flow of diabatic simulations indicates a high sensitivity of local temperatures to rotor speed and load. A cooling effect of the fluid film bearings is present. Consequently, results confirm the necessity of the diabatic approach to the heat flow analysis of turbocharger rotors.

Stability-Optimized Clearance Configuration of Fluid-Film Bearings

2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koichi Matsuda ◽  
Shinya Kijimoto ◽  
Yoichi Kanemitsu
Keyword(s):  
Fourier Series ◽  
Load Capacity ◽  
Fluid Film ◽  
Eccentricity Ratio ◽  
Rotating Speed ◽  
Fluid Film Bearings ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Jeffcott Rotor ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Frequency Ratios

The whirl instability occurs at higher rotating speeds for a full circular fluid-film journal bearing, and many types of clearance configuration have been proposed to solve this instability problem. A clearance configuration of fluid-film journal bearings is optimized in a sense of enhancing the stability of the full circular bearing at high rotational speeds. A performance index is chosen as the sum of the squared whirl-frequency ratios over a wide range of eccentricity ratios, and a Fourier series is used to represent an arbitrary clearance configuration of fluid-film bearings. An optimization problem is then formulated to find the Fourier coefficients to minimize the index. The designed bearing has a clearance configuration similar to that of an offset two-lobe bearing for smaller length-to-diameter ratios. It is shown that the designed bearing cannot destabilize the Jeffcott rotor at any high rotating speed for a wide range of eccentricity ratio. The load capacity of the designed bearings is nearly in the same magnitude as that of the full circular bearing for smaller length-to-diameter ratios. The whirl-frequency ratios of the designed bearing are very sensitive to truncating higher terms of the Fourier series for some eccentricity ratio. The designed bearings successfully enhance the stability of a full circular bearing and are free from the whirl instability.

A Review on Active Bearings and Perspectives of Using Them in Rotating Machinery

2014 ◽  
Vol 630 ◽  
pp. 181-187
Author(s):  
Denis Shutin ◽  
Leonid Savin ◽  
Alexander Babin
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Modeling ◽  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Control System ◽  
Motion Control ◽  
Dynamic Characteristics ◽  
Rotating Machinery ◽  
Fluid Film ◽  
Motion Control System ◽  
Fluid Film Bearings ◽  
System Components

The paper examines the issues of improving the rotor units by means of using support units with actively changeable characteristics. An overview of the known solutions related to the use of active bearings in various types of turbomachinery is provided. A closer look is given at the design and features of active radial bearings, the main elements of which are fluid film bearings. The results of mathematical modeling of active hybrid bearings are presented. The prospects of the use of this type of supports to improve the dynamic characteristics of rotating machinery, including reducing vibrations caused by various factors, are analyzed. Promising directions of development of active bearings are considered, which primarily involves the modification of system components and rotor motion control system algorithms, including intelligent technologies and artificial intelligence methods.

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