scholarly journals Coupled Dynamics of a Rotor-Journal Bearing System Equipped with Thrust Bearings

1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Lie ◽  
R.B. Bhat

The rotordynamic coefficients of fixed-pad thrust bearing are introduced and calculated by using the out-domain method, and a general analysis method is developed to investigate the coupled dynamics of a rotor equipped with journal and thrust bearings simultaneously. Considerations include the effects of static tilt parameters of the rotor on rotordynamic coefficients of thrust bearing and the action of thrust bearing on system dynamics. It is shown that thrust bearing changes the load distribution of journal bearings and the static deflection of the rotor and delays the instability of the system considerably in lateral shaft vibration.

2005 ◽  
Vol 128 (4) ◽  
pp. 597-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Teo ◽  
Z. S. Spakovszky

One major challenge for the successful operation of high-power-density micro-devices lies in the stable operation of the bearings supporting the high-speed rotating turbomachinery. Previous modeling efforts by Piekos (2000, “Numerical Simulation of Gas-Lubricated Journal Bearings for Microfabricated Machines,” Ph.D. thesis, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT), Liu et al. (2005, “Hydrostatic Gas Journal Bearings for Micro-Turbo Machinery,” ASME J. Vib. Acoust., 127, pp. 157–164), and Spakovszky and Liu (2005, “Scaling Laws for Ultra-Short Hydrostatic Gas Journal Bearings,” ASME J. Vib. Acoust. 127, pp. 254–261) have focused on the operation and stability of journal bearings. Thrust bearings play a vital role in providing axial support and stiffness, and there is a need to improve the understanding of their dynamic behavior. In this work, a rigorous theory is presented to analyze the effects of compressibility in micro-flows (characterized by low Reynolds numbers and high Mach numbers) through hydrostatic thrust bearings for application to micro-turbomachines. The analytical model, which combines a one-dimensional compressible flow model with finite-element analysis, serves as a useful tool for establishing operating protocols and assessing the stability characteristics of hydrostatic thrust bearings. The model is capable of predicting key steady-state performance indicators, such as bearing mass flow, axial stiffness, and natural frequency as a function of the hydrostatic supply pressure and thrust-bearing geometry. The model has been applied to investigate the static stability of hydrostatic thrust bearings in micro-turbine generators, where the electrostatic attraction between the stator and rotor gives rise to a negative axial stiffness contribution and may lead to device failure. Thrust-bearing operating protocols have been established for a micro-turbopump, where the bearings also serve as an annular seal preventing the leakage of pressurized liquid from the pump to the gaseous flow in the turbine. The dual role of the annular pad poses challenges in the operation of both the device and the thrust bearing. The operating protocols provide essential information on the required thrust-bearing supply pressures and axial gaps required to prevent the leakage of water into the thrust bearings. Good agreement is observed between the model predictions and experimental results. A dynamic stability analysis has been conducted, which indicates the occurrence of instabilities due to flow choking effects in both forward and aft thrust bearings. A simple criterion for the onset of axial rotor oscillations has been established and subsequently verified in a micro-turbocharger experiment. The predicted frequencies of the unstable axial oscillations compare well with the experimental measurements.


2011 ◽  
Vol 121-126 ◽  
pp. 1966-1971
Author(s):  
Wu Bin Xu ◽  
De Jian Zhou ◽  
Peter Ogrodnik ◽  
Mike Goodwin

The manufacturing tolerances of a hydrodynamic journal bearing system are inevitable in manufacturing process. To examine and understand the effect of manufacturing tolerances on the system stability can help engineers to confidently choose reasonable tolerances at design stage. This study presented a theoretical analysis method to determine and compare the effects of dimensional manufacturing tolerances and journal out-of-roundness on system stability by Taguchi method. The results show that the journal out-of-roundness has the most significant effect on the system stability and the journal out-of-roundness appears to stabilize the system. The authors suggest that both dimensional manufacturing tolerances and journal roundness should be taken into account in the design of cylindrical journal bearings.


1970 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 572-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Bosma ◽  
H. Moes

As a followup to an earlier paper in which a new type of design chart for full journal bearings was given a complete set of design charts for pivoted-pad thrust bearings (Michell bearings) shall now be presented. The dimensionless groups of parameters representing minimum film thickness and bearing traction for one single pad, respectively, have been plotted in a new design chart. Some illustrative examples demonstrating how to use the chart for optimization of pivoted-pad thrust bearings have been included. Some attention has also been paid to the stiffness of the film of lubricant. A design chart for film stiffness has been added to this purpose.


1989 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-86
Author(s):  
R. J. Stango ◽  
R. H. Jungmann

A variational method is outlined for computing thrust bearing element loads on the basis of minimizing the potential energy of the system. The problem is formulated in terms of a polynomial displacement assumption for bearing elements. To illustrate the computational procedure, numerical studies are presented for a thrust bearing subjected to a range of load eccentricities. The variational approach is demonstrated to result in an accurate and efficient solution for bearing element load distributions. Excellent agreement is achieved when comparison is made to conventional methods of classical bearing theory for nominal load eccentricities, while superior performance is obtained when load eccentricities are considerably larger. Basic advantages of the variational formulation are discussed and an illustrative problem is presented which demonstrates extended capability of the variational method for examining the load distribution in thrust bearings.


2002 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. C. Pettinato ◽  
P. DeChoudhury

The paper discusses the redesign of a high-speed turbocharger for improved bearing life and mechanical operation. The bearings were changed from a pair of combination journal/thrust bearings to a pair of redesigned journal bearings with double acting thrust bearing at the center of the unit. Internal oil passages, drain cavities, and seals were also revised. These modifications resulted in reduced oil leakage across end seals, reduced coke buildup at the turbine, increased thrust load capacity, and improved rotordynamics. Both the analytical and experimental results, which consisted of bearing performance and vibration data of original and modified systems are presented.


Author(s):  
Yanfeng Han ◽  
Guo Xiang ◽  
Jiaxu Wang

Abstract The mixed lubrication performance of water-lubricated coupled journal and thrust bearing (simplified as coupled bearing) is investigated by a developed numerical model. To ensure the continuity of hydrodynamic pressure and flow at the common boundary between the journal and thrust bearing, the conformal transformation is introduced to unify the solution domain of the Reynolds equation. In the presented study, the coupled effects between the journal and thrust bearing are discussed. The effects of the thrust bearing geometric film thickness on the mixed lubrication performance, including the load capacity, contact load and friction coefficient, of the journal bearing are investigated. And the effects of the journal bearing eccentricity ratio on the mixed lubrication performance of the thrust bearing are also investigated. The simulated results indicate the mutual effects between the journal and thrust bearing cannot be ignored in the coupled bearing system. The increasing thrust bearing geometric film thickness generates a decrease in load capacity of journal bearing. There exists an optimal eccentricity ratio of journal bearing that yields the minimum friction coefficient of the thrust bearing.


Author(s):  
Thomas Hagemann ◽  
Hardwig Blumenthal ◽  
Christian Kraft ◽  
Hubert Schwarze

A theoretical algorithm for the analysis of bidirectional interaction of combined journal and thrust bearings is presented. While many theoretical and experimental investigations on the operating behavior of single journal and thrust bearings can be found only few results for combined bearings are available. However, combined bearings interact by exchanging lubricant and heat which can affect significant changes of boundary conditions compared to a single bearing application. Therefore, a novel procedure is developed to combine two separate codes for journal and thrust bearings in order to iteratively determine the coupling boundary conditions due to the special design of the entire bearing unit. The degree of interaction strongly depends on the type of lubrication. In a first step predictions are verified by measurement data for a combined bearing with a fixed-pad offset-halves journal bearing and a directed lubricated tilting-pad thrust bearing. Experiments were conducted on a high speed test rig up to sliding speeds of 107 m/s at the mean radius of the thrust bearing. As expected the interaction of the two oil films is comparably low in the investigated speed and load range for this bearing design because of the active lubrication of both bearings and the low hydraulic resistance of the thrust bearing. In order to theoretically investigate interaction of thrust and journal bearings in more details a combined bearing with fixed-pad thrust parts lubricated exclusively by the side flow of the journal bearing is studied. A variation of modeling level, pocket design of the journal part, thrust load and rotating frequency provides the following results: (i) hydraulic and energetic interaction have to be modelled in details, (ii) the axial flow resistance of the pockets strongly influences flow rates and the pressure level at the interfaces (iii) the level of interface pressure rises with increasing thrust loads and decreasing rotor speed, (iv) the axial bearing clearance is rather of minor importance for the investigated bearing. Finally, improvements in order to predict operating conditions more precisely are comprehensively discussed.


Author(s):  
Jiajia Yan ◽  
Zhansheng Liu ◽  
Guanghui Zhang ◽  
Xiangyu Yu ◽  
Liang Xu

This paper presents the feasibility study of an oil-free turbocharger with journal bearing diameter of 17 mm. Rotordynamic performance of a turbocharger rotor, supported by two identical bump-type foil journal bearings and a pair of foil thrust bearings, is predicted and tested. High-pressure cold nitrogen is adopted to drive the turbocharger rotor. In rotordynamic analysis, the critical speeds and logarithmic decrement of the turbocharger rotor are predicted by employing the finite element method, in which the stiffness and damping coefficients of foil journal bearings and aerodynamic cross-coupled stiffness of the turbine are taken into account. Compared with experimental results, the accuracy of the prediction for rotordynamic analysis is verified for 7.82% marginal error of the critical speed. During the experiment, three foil journal bearings with different nominal clearances are manufactured and tested. The maximum stable operating speed reaches 105,000 r/min for this 17-mm-diameter oil-free turbocharger rotor system. Test results indicate the nominal clearance has a negative influence on threshold speed of sub-synchronous motions. When the nominal clearance is relatively small, the foil journal bearing could not lift off due to a large starting torque, while sub-synchronous motions would emerge under a large nominal clearance because of the reduced stiffness and damping coefficients of foil journal bearings.


Author(s):  
Brian C. Pettinato ◽  
Pranabesh DeChoudhury

The paper discusses the redesign of a high-speed turbocharger for improved bearing life and mechanical operation. The modifications resulted in reduced oil leakage across the end seal, reduced coke buildup at the turbine, increased thrust load capacity, and improved rotordynamics. In particular, rotordynamic stability was improved by eliminating subsynchronous vibration at the operating speed. The redesign consisted of changing the bearings from a pair of combination journal/thrust bearings to a pair of journal bearings and a double acting thrust bearing at the center of the unit. The active thrust bearing was moved away from the hot turbine end of the machine. The thrust bearing geometry was modified for increased minimum film thickness, reduced metal temperature, and increased load capacity. Inlet and drain passages were revised for better oil flow distribution. Unit rotordynamics were improved by upgrading the journal bearings from three-axial-groove to three-lobe design. The upgraded unit kept the same footprint as the original design with only piping modifications required. Extensive analysis and testing were conducted. Testing of the original and revised turbochargers showed improvements in the redesign with reduced bearing metal temperatures and improved rotordynamic stability. Theoretical results along with test data consisting of bearing performance and vibration data of the original and modified system are presented in this paper.


Author(s):  
Jason C. Wilkes ◽  
Dara W. Childs

The floating-bearing-test-rig concept was initially developed by Glienicke in 1966 and has since been used to test many tilting-pad journal bearings (TPJBs). The impedances measured during these tests have been compared to rotor/journal perturbed impedance predictions. Since the inertial acceleration of a pad is different for bearing perturbed and rotor perturbed motions, the bearing’s reaction force components for bearing perturbed and journal perturbed motions will also differ. An understanding of how bearing perturbed and rotor perturbed impedances differ is needed to assess the validity of past, present, and future comparisons between TPJB test data and predictions. A new TPJB perturbation model is developed including the effects of angular, radial, and transverse pad motion and changes in pad clearance due to pad bending compliance. Though all of these pad variables have previously been included in different analyses, there are no publications containing perturbations of all four variables. In addition, previous researchers have only perturbed the rotor, while both the bearing and rotor motions are perturbed in the present analysis. The applicability of comparing rotor-perturbed bearing impedance predictions to impedances measured on a bearing-perturbed test rig is assessed by comparing rotor perturbed and bearing perturbed impedance predictions for an example bearing.


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