Annular Gap Windage Loss Measurements for High Speed Electrical Machinery

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik E. Swanson ◽  
P. Shawn O’Meara ◽  
Hsin-Hua Tsuei
Keyword(s):  
Test Data ◽  
Power Loss ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Reasonable Agreement ◽  
Smooth Surface ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Empirical Correlations ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
Electrical Machinery ◽  
Annular Gap

Windage loss in small, high speed electrical machinery is often predicted using fairly simple quasi-empirical correlations. Many of the correlations used are primarily based on testing performed with larger test articles, at lower speeds, and often with liquid lubricants. This paper presents a new set of air gap windage loss test data for test articles that are more nearly representative of small, high speed electrical machinery. These data were obtained using a unique new test rig. This rig was designed around test articles that are representative of 50 to 200 kW machinery operating up to 60 krpm with air as the fluid in the rotor-stator clearance. This paper describes the new test facility and presents data for a smooth surface 72.4 mm rotor with both a smooth stator and a stator with simulated winding slots, for a range of clearances. The smooth surface results are shown to be in reasonable agreement with previously published results for annular gap windage power loss.

The Effect of Axial Flow Velocity on Annular Gap Windage Power Loss

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik E. Swanson ◽  
Hsin-Hua Tsuei ◽  
P. Shawn O’Meara
Keyword(s):  
Flow Velocity ◽  
Power Loss ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Electrical Machinery ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Taylor Vortices ◽  
Annular Gap ◽  
Process Fluid ◽  
Application Requirements

As surface speeds of electrical machinery increase to meet ever more demanding application requirements, windage power losses due to shearing of air (or other process fluid) between the rotor and stator take on an increasingly significant role. Historically, these losses have not received a huge amount of research attention from the high speed motor community. Common approaches include making the rotor and stator surfaces as smooth as possible, keeping the rotor-stator gap as large as practical without compromising electrical efficiency, and simply accepting whatever losses are present. This paper presents a combined Computational Fluid Dynamics and experimental evaluation of the effect of axial flow on windage power loss in a rotor-stator gap. The results support other results in the literature suggesting that careful tuning of axial flow velocity in the gap can suppress the formation of turbulent Taylor vortices, and thereby reduce windage power loss. In specific cases, reductions in windage power loss of up to 30 percent have been predicted. The presence of an optimal axial flow velocity is confirmed experimentally.

Reducing Gear Windage Losses From High Speed Gears

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don D. Winfree
Keyword(s):  
Power Loss ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Total Power ◽  
Fort Worth ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
Cost Overruns ◽  
Basic Set ◽  
Drive Trains ◽  
Reducing Gear

Abstract Windage losses in gearboxes account for a large portion of the total power loss in high-speed drive trains. Very little actual data has been collected specifically quantifying these losses. Traditional techniques to measure the effects of baffles in high speed gearing applications have been done by trial and error on very complex systems. This trial and error technique is used throughout the gearing industry to solve problems without isolating each individual gear windage effect. These solutions are usually sub-optimum. They cause time-consuming delays and cost overruns in many programs. This paper describes a gear baffle test rig that was built to quantify and minimize the gear windage losses in high-speed drive trains. These tests were conducted at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth Texas Facility. The intent of the gearbox baffle test rig was to isolate and measure the windage effects on a single high-speed bevel gear with various baffle configurations. Results of these tests were used to define a basic set of ground rules for designing baffles. Finally the set of ground rules was used to design an optimum baffle configuration.

scholarly journals A New Analysis Tool Assessment for Rotordynamic Modeling of Gas Foil Bearings

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel A. Howard ◽  
Luis San Andre´s
Keyword(s):  
Power Loss ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Structural Deformation ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Foil Bearings ◽  
Rotordynamic Coefficients ◽  
Foil Bearing ◽  
Analytical Tools

Gas foil bearings offer several advantages over traditional bearing types that make them attractive for use in high-speed turbomachinery. They can operate at very high temperatures, require no lubrication supply (oil pumps, seals, etc), exhibit very long life with no maintenance, and once operating airborne, have very low power loss. The use of gas foil bearings in high-speed turbomachinery has been accelerating in recent years, although the pace has been slow. One of the contributing factors to the slow growth has been a lack of analysis tools, benchmarked to measurements, to predict gas foil bearing behavior in rotating machinery. To address this shortcoming, NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has supported the development of analytical tools to predict gas foil bearing performance. One of the codes has the capability to predict rotordynamic coefficients, power loss, film thickness, structural deformation, and more. The current paper presents an assessment of the predictive capability of the code, named XLGFBTH©. A test rig at GRC is used as a simulated case study to compare rotordynamic analysis using output from the code to actual rotor response as measured in the test rig. The test rig rotor is supported on two gas foil journal bearings manufactured at GRC, with all pertinent geometry disclosed. The resulting comparison shows that the rotordynamic coefficients calculated using XLGFBTH© represent the dynamics of the system reasonably well, especially as they pertain to predicting critical speeds.

Reducing Gear Windage Losses From High Speed Gears and Applying These Principles to Actual Running Hardware

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don D. Winfree
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Power Loss ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Total Power ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
Cost Overruns ◽  
Basic Set ◽  
Drive Trains ◽  
Reducing Gear

Windage losses in gearboxes account for a large portion of the total power loss in high-speed drive trains. Very little actual data has been collected specifically quantifying these losses. Traditional techniques to measure the effects of baffles in high speed gearing applications have been done by trial and error on very complex systems. This trial and error technique is used throughout the gearing industry to solve problems without isolating each individual gear windage effect. These solutions are usually sub-optimum. They cause time-consuming delays and cost overruns in many programs. This paper describes two gear baffle test rigs that were built to quantify and minimize the gear windage losses in high-speed drive trains. The intent of the first gearbox baffle test rig was to isolate and measure the windage effects on a single high-speed bevel gear with various baffle configurations. The results of these tests were used to define a basic set of ground rules for designing baffles. This set of ground rules was then applied to another rig replicating the F-35 Liftfan gear box configuration. Immediate benefits were seen. Without this work Lockheed Martin’s X-35 STOVL aircraft would not have been able to operate.

scholarly journals Leakage and Power Loss Test Results for Competing Turbine Engine Seals

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret P. Proctor ◽  
Irebert R. Delgado
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Power Loss ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Gas Turbine Engines ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
Labyrinth Seals ◽  
Turbine Engine

Advanced brush and finger seal technologies offer reduced leakage rates over conventional labyrinth seals used in gas turbine engines. To address engine manufactures’ concerns about the heat generation and power loss from these contacting seals, brush, finger, and labyrinth seals were tested in the NASA High Speed, High Temperature Turbine Seal Test Rig. Leakage and power loss test results are compared for these competing seals for operating conditions up to 922 K (1200 °F) inlet air temperature, 517 KPa (75 psid) across the seal, and surface velocities up to 366 m/s (1200 ft/s).

Design of Novel Gas Foil Thrust Bearings and Test Validation in a High-Speed Test Rig

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen LaTray ◽  
Daejong Kim
Keyword(s):  
Power Loss ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Load Capacity ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Design Feature ◽  
Outer Diameter ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
Thrust Bearings ◽  
Speed Test ◽  
Light Load

Abstract Small gas foil bearings (FBs) with shaft diameter below 25 mm can find many applications in air compressors for fuel cells, electrical turbo chargers, small unmanned air vehicles, turbo alternators, etc. These small machines are characterized by very light load to the radial FBs, and thus rotordynamics stability is more challenging than load capacity. However, a main challenge of gas foil thrust bearings (GFTBs) is how to increase the load capacity, and the challenge remains the same regardless of the size. In previous publications on experimental studies on GFTBs, the measured load capacity is well below the prediction due to challenges in testing as well as manufacturing of GFTBs. Difficulty in achieving the design load capacity often leads to increasing the bearing size in actual applications with penalty of higher power loss. This paper presents design feature of a novel GFTB with outer diameter of 38 mm and static performance up to 155 krpm under external load of 75 N using a high-speed test rig. The 38 mm GFTB presented in this paper is a three-layered structure for easy design and manufacturing, and the unique design feature allows easy scale down and scale up to different sizes. Reynolds equations for compressible gas and the two-dimensional thin plate model were adopted for fluid–structure interaction simulation to predict load capacity and power loss of the GFTB. The predicted power loss and load capacity agree well with the measurements.

Quantification of Cooling Fan Airflow Installation Effects Compared to Plenum-to-Plenum Fan Performance

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Gullberg
Keyword(s):  
Test Data ◽  
Performance Test ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Performance Curve ◽  
Chassis Dynamometer ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
Fan Performance ◽  
Installation Effects ◽  
Full Vehicle

The classic approach of cooling airflow and cooling performance analysis is to measure component performance (pressure rise, pressure drop, rejected heat etc.) in a Plenum to Plenum test facility. Based on this component data a 1D system model is built and calibrated with full vehicle test data. Full vehicle data is typically acquired from a chassis dynamometer. This modeling approach assumes each component operates in a similar manner in the rig as in the vehicle. Concerning the fan, several effects are then assumed negligible such as airflow distribution into the fan and also non uniform pressure gradients in the installation aft of the fan. This paper study and quantify these assumptions and installation effects by the use of 3D CFD correlated to experimental data. The first part will be to demonstrate a correlation between performance test data in a Plenum to Plenum test facility and the corresponding simulation thereof. Based on this correlation the test rig influence can be isolated and removed from the fan performance measurement (based on detailed CFD information). The second part will be to regenerate the fan curve in a truck installation by using 3D CFD and varying the system restriction. This step will also be correlated to Vehicle testing in a chassis dynamometer. The third step will be to compare the in rig fan performance curve to the in vehicle fan performance curve. The results indicate that the plenum to plenum test rig significantly influence the performance data of the fan in a non-trivial way. Removing the rig influence on the fan performance this paper demonstrates that the fan operates similar in the rig as in the truck.

scholarly journals A New Analysis Tool Assessment for Rotordynamic Modeling of Gas Foil Bearings

2010 ◽  
Vol 133 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel A. Howard ◽  
Luis San Andrés
Keyword(s):  
Power Loss ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Structural Deformation ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Foil Bearings ◽  
Rotordynamic Coefficients ◽  
Foil Bearing ◽  
Analytical Tools

Gas foil bearings offer several advantages over traditional bearing types that make them attractive for use in high-speed turbomachinery. They can operate at very high temperatures, require no lubrication supply (oil pumps, seals, etc.), exhibit very long life with no maintenance, and once operating airborne, have very low power loss. The use of gas foil bearings in high-speed turbomachinery has been accelerating in recent years although the pace has been slow. One of the contributing factors to the slow growth has been a lack of analysis tools, benchmarked to measurements, to predict gas foil bearing behavior in rotating machinery. To address this shortcoming, NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has supported the development of analytical tools to predict gas foil bearing performance. One of the codes has the capability to predict rotordynamic coefficients, power loss, film thickness, structural deformation, and more. The current paper presents an assessment of the predictive capability of the code named XLGFBTH©. A test rig at GRC is used as a simulated case study to compare rotordynamic analysis using output from the code to actual rotor response as measured in the test rig. The test rig rotor is supported on two gas foil journal bearings manufactured at GRC with all pertinent geometry disclosed. The resulting comparison shows that the rotordynamic coefficients calculated using XLGFBTH© represent the dynamics of the system reasonably well especially as they pertain to predicting critical speeds.

Test Rig Commissioning for Advanced Rotor-Stator Seals

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepak Trivedi ◽  
Eric Ruggiero ◽  
Christopher Wolfe ◽  
Joel Kirk ◽  
John Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
System Level ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Steam Turbines ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
Test Requirements

Abstract Test facilities capable of simulating relevant operational environments for validating novel concepts are indispensable for advancing the state-of-the-art in turbomachinery sealing technology. A test rig suitable for demonstrating full-scale rotor-stator sealing concepts under operational environments relevant for a variety of turbomachinery gas paths was designed and commissioned at GE’s Seals Test Facility. The test rig, called the Advanced Seals Test Rig (or ASTR), can simulate conditions that include a range of rotor speeds, fluid pressures and temperatures, from steady state operating conditions of high pressure turbines of aircraft engines to sections of steam turbines. The present paper provides a system level description of the test rig. The main test section of the rig is housed within the centerpiece of a stamped pressure vessel. A drive train penetrates the pressure vessel and consists of an integral saddle mounted rotor. A motor connected to a high-speed gearbox through couplings on each end permits rotation of the test rotor. The test rotor is supported by two bearing pedestals. The paper describes these rig subsystems with focus on novel features for ease of operation. Key instrumentation and operating procedures that enable the rig to operate safely are also described. Key drivers of the rig design, such as test requirements, rotordynamics, mechanical design, ergonomics, safety and test productivity are outlined. Mechanical design considerations include strict requirements for thermal and pressure deformation under demanding conditions of pressure and temperature. Commissioning of the rig included phases of fabrication, installation, shakeout, calibration and benchmarking. Key learnings from the rig design and commissioning process, as well as operations, are summarized.

A High Speed Test Rig Capable of Running at 190,000rpm to Characterize Gas Foil Thrust Bearings

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen T. LaTray ◽  
Daejong Kim
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Thrust Bearing ◽  
Load Capacity ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Frictional Torque ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
Speed Test ◽  
Compliant Structure ◽  
Bearing Load ◽  
Speed Up

This paper details the design and performance of a high-speed (up to 190,000rpm) gas foil thrust bearing (GFTB) test rig to measure bearing load capacity. Several GFTB test rigs were reported in the literature for operating speed up to 90krpm. A few recently presented works show successful runs at 135krpm for testing gas thrust bearing with viscoelastic support and 130krpm tilting pad thrust bearing with compliant structure. However, a GFTB test rig for speed range over 100krpm has not been reported. At high speed operation, the gas film thickness of the GFTB is around a few microns which makes it difficult to achieve in testing. In many cases, the measured thrust load from experiments is well below the predicted data due to difficulty in testing and instrumentation. Difficulty in validating the actual load capacity of the bearings leads to increasing the thrust bearing size to ensure sufficient load capacity in actual applications, which results in higher power consumption. This work presents detail feature of a novel GFTB test rig and test results of 38mm GFTB. The developed test rig runs up to 190krpm and measures bearing load capacity, frictional torque and temperature across bearing ID and OD. The test rig is suitable for testing GFTB with OD from 30 mm to 40 mm. The test facility successfully tests a 38 mm GFTB to its predicted load capacity of 75N (110kPa).

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