Stability-Optimized Clearance Configuration of Fluid-Film Journal Bearings

Author(s):  
Koichi Matsuda ◽  
Yoichi Kanemitsu ◽  
Shinya Kijimoto

A clearance configuration of fluid-film journal bearings is optimized in a sense of enhancing the stability of a 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 configuration of fluid-film bearings. An optimization problem is then formulated to find the Fourier coefficients to minimize the index. The whirl-frequency ratio is inversely proportional to the stability threshold speeds of a Jeffcott rotor. The short bearing approximation is used to simplify a mathematical model that describes a pressure distribution developed in a fluid-film bearing. The designed bearing cannot destabilize the Jeffcott rotor at any high rotating speed subject to the short-bearing assumption and significantly reduces the size of the unstable region for a finite-length bearing with a small length-to-diameter ratio.

2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koichi Matsuda ◽  
Shinya Kijimoto ◽  
Yoichi Kanemitsu

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.


2009 ◽  
Vol 147-149 ◽  
pp. 450-455
Author(s):  
Stanislaw Strzelecki ◽  
Sobhy M. Ghoneam

This paper introduces the results of theoretical investigation on the dynamic characteristics of tilting 3-pad journal bearing that operates with turbulent oil film. The Reynolds, energy, viscosity and geometry equations determine the oil film pressure, temperature distributions, and oil film resultant force that are the grounds for the dynamic characteristics of bearing. These equations were solved simultaneously on the assumption of adiabatic laminar or adiabatic turbulent oil flow in the bearing gap. The stability and system damping of Jeffcott rotor operating in tilting 3-pad journal bearing was determined.


1989 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-353
Author(s):  
Wen Zhang

The paper is devoted to the estimation of the lower bound of the stability threshold speed (STS) of a flexible rotor system supported in fluid-film bearings. It is proved theoretically that the STS of any multi-degree-of-freedom flexible rotor system is always higher than the STS of the corresponding equivalent single disk rotor. The conclusion offers us a simple approach to estimate the STS of any actual rotor system and provides a theoretical foundation for the approach.


1995 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 674-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhou Yang ◽  
L. San Andres ◽  
D. W. Childs

A bulk-flow thermohydrodynamic (THD) analysis is developed for prediction of the static and dynamic performance characteristics of turbulent-flow, process-liquid, hydrostatic journal bearings (HJBs). Pointwise evaluation of temperature and hence liquid properties is achieved through the solution of the energy equation in the fluid film with insulated boundaries, and justified for fluid film bearings with external pressurization. Fluid inertia within the film lands and at recess edges is preserved in the analysis. Flow turbulence is accounted through turbulence shear parameters based on friction factors derived from Moody’s formulae. The effects of fluid compressibility and temperature variation in the bearing recesses are included. Numerical solution and results are presented in the second part of this work and compared with some limited experimental data for a liquid hydrogen (LH2) bearing.


1985 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Wilcock ◽  
O. Pinkus

Many high-speed or large fluid film bearings operate in the turbulent regime. However, relatively little consideration has been given to the effects of turbulence and of the variation in viscosity on the dynamic stiffness and damping characteristics of the bearings. Since the dynamic behavior of the rotor supported on such bearings is often closely tied to the bearing dynamic coefficients, knowledge of them may be critical to both the design and the in-place correction of rotor instabilities. These effects are here considered in some detail on the basis of computer calculated analytical results, both in general dimensionless terms and with regard to a specific numerical example.


Author(s):  
N. S. Feng ◽  
E. J. Hahn

The stability of rotating machinery consisting of flexible rotors supported by fluid film bearings is significantly affected by the dynamic characteristics of the bearings and in particular, the bearing profiles as well as the bearing reaction loads, which, in statically indeterminate systems, are in turn strongly influenced by the relative transverse alignment of the bearings. Using a simple four bearing statically indeterminate model, it is shown that relatively simple variants of the circular bearings, viz. elliptic and 2-pad offset bearings display better system stability characteristics systems in aligned situations and are also more likely to be stable in misaligned situations.


Author(s):  
J. Jeffrey Moore ◽  
Andrew Lerche ◽  
Timothy Allison ◽  
David L. Ransom ◽  
Daniel Lubell

The use of gas bearings has increased over the past several decades to include microturbines, air cycle machines, and hermetically sealed compressors and turbines. Gas bearings have many advantages over traditional bearings, such as rolling element or oil lubricated fluid film bearings, including longer life, ability to use the process fluid, no contamination of the process with lubricants, accommodating high shaft speeds, and operation over a wide range of temperatures. Unlike fluid film bearings that utilize oil, gas lubricated bearings generate very little damping from the gas itself. Therefore, successful bearing designs such as foil bearings utilize damping features on the bearing to improve the damping generated. Similar to oil bearings, gas bearing designers strive to develop gas bearings with good rotordynamic stability. Gas bearings are challenging to design, requiring a fully coupled thermo-elastic, hydrodynamic analysis including complex nonlinear mechanisms such as Coulomb friction. There is a surprisingly low amount of rotordynamic force coefficient measurement in the literature despite the need to verify the model predictions and the stability of the bearing. This paper describes the development and testing of a 60,000 rpm gas bearing test rig and presents measured stiffness and damping coefficients for a 57 mm foil type bearing. The design of the rig overcomes many challenges in making this measurement by developing a patented, high-frequency, high-amplitude shaker system, resulting in excitation over most of the subsynchronous range.


Author(s):  
J. Jeffrey Moore ◽  
Andrew Lerche ◽  
Timothy Allison ◽  
David L. Ransom ◽  
Daniel Lubell

The use of gas bearings has increased over the last several decades to include microturbines, air cycle machines, and hermetically sealed compressors and turbines. Gas bearings have many advantages over traditional bearings, such as rolling element or oil lubricated fluid film bearings, including longer life, ability to use the process fluid, no contamination of the process with lubricants, accommodating high shaft speeds, and operation over a wide range of temperatures. Unlike fluid film bearings that utilize oil, gas lubricated bearings generate very little damping from the gas itself. Therefore, successful bearing designs such as foil bearings utilize damping features on the bearing to improve the damping generated. Similar to oil bearings, gas bearing designers strive to develop gas bearings with good rotordynamic stability. Gas bearings are challenging to design requiring a fully coupled thermo-elastic, hydrodynamic analysis including complex non-linear mechanisms such as Coulomb friction. There is a surprisingly low amount of rotordynamic force coefficient measurement in the literature despite the need to verify the model predictions and the stability of the bearing. This paper describes the development and testing of a 60,000 rpm gas bearing test rig and presents measured stiffness and damping coefficients for a 57 mm foil type bearing. The design of the rig overcomes many challenges in making this measurement by developing a patented, high-frequency, high-amplitude shaker system resulting in excitation over most of the subsynchronous range.


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