scholarly journals High Speed Rotors on Gas Bearings: Design and Experimental Characterization

Author(s):  
G. Belforte ◽  
F. Colombo ◽  
T. Raparelli ◽  
A. Trivella ◽  
V. Viktorov
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
L. A. Montoya ◽  
E. E. Rodríguez ◽  
H. J. Zúñiga ◽  
I. Mejía

Rotating systems components such as rotors, have dynamic characteristics that are of great importance to understand because they may cause failure of turbomachinery. Therefore, it is required to study a dynamic model to predict some vibration characteristics, in this case, the natural frequencies and mode shapes (both of free vibration) of a centrifugal compressor shaft. The peculiarity of the dynamic model proposed is that using frequency and displacements values obtained experimentally, it is possible to calculate the mass and stiffness distribution of the shaft, and then use these values to estimate the theoretical modal parameters. The natural frequencies and mode shapes of the shaft were obtained with experimental modal analysis by using the impact test. The results predicted by the model are in good agreement with the experimental test. The model is also flexible with other geometries and has a great time and computing performance, which can be evaluated with respect to other commercial software in the future.


2007 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 1020-1027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuehua Zhu ◽  
Luis San Andrés

Micro-turbomachinery demands gas bearings to ensure compactness, light weight, and extreme temperature operation. Gas bearings with large stiffness and damping, and preferably of low cost, will enable successful commercial applications. Presently, tests conducted on a small rotor supported on flexure pivot hydrostatic pad gas bearings (FPTPBs) demonstrate stable rotordynamic responses up to 100,000rpm (limit of the drive motor). Test rotor responses show the feed pressure raises the system critical speed (increase in bearing direct stiffness) while the viscous damping ratio decreases. Predictions correlate favorably with experimentally identified (synchronous) direct stiffness bearing force coefficients. Identified experimental gas bearing synchronous damping coefficients are 50% or less of the predicted magnitudes, though remaining relatively constant as the rotor speed increases. Tests without feed pressure show the rotor becomes unstable at ∼81krpm with a whirl frequency ratio of 20%. FPTPBs are mechanically complex and more expensive than cylindrical plain bearings. However, their enhanced stability characteristics and predictable rotordynamic performance makes them desirable for the envisioned oil-free applications in high speed micro-turbomachinery.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 342-351
Author(s):  
T. Waumans ◽  
J. Peirs ◽  
J. Reynaerts ◽  
F. Al-Bender

For high-speed applications, gas lubricated bearings offer very specific advantages over other,more conventional bearing technologies: a clean and oil-free solution, virtually wear-free operation, lowfrictional losses, wide operating temperature range, etc. However, the principal drawback involved in theapplication of high-speed gas bearings concerns the dynamic stability problem. Successful applicationtherefore requires control of the rotor-bearing dynamics so as to avoid instabilities.After a detailed study of the dynamic stability problem and the formulation of a convenient stability criterium,a brief overview is given of the currently existing bearing types and configurations for improving the stability.In addition, three strategies are introduced: (i) optimal design of plain aerostatic bearings; (ii) modification ofthe bearing geometry to counteract the destabilising effects in the gas film; and (iii) introduction of dampingexternal to the gas film as to compensate for the destabilising effects.These strategies are worked out into detail leading to the formulation of a series of design rules. Theireffectiveness is validated experimentally at a miniature scale. In recent experiments a rotational speed of1.2 million rpm has been achieved with a 6 mm rotor on aerodynamic journal bearings, leading to a recordDN-number of 7.2 million.


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Balaji ◽  
V. Sivadas ◽  
Vishnu Radhakrishna ◽  
Khushal Ashok Bhatija ◽  
K. Sai Charan

The present study focuses on experimental characterization of interfacial instability pertinent to liquid jet and liquid sheet in the first wind-induced zone. To accomplish this objective, the interfacial wave growth rate, critical wave number, and breakup frequency associated with air-assisted atomizer systems were extracted by utilizing high-speed flow visualization techniques. For a range of liquid to gas velocities tested, nondimensionalization with appropriate variables generates the corresponding correlation functions. These functions enable to make an effective comparison between interfacial wave developments for liquid jet and sheet configurations. It exhibits liquid sheets superiority over liquid jets in the breakup processes leading to efficient atomization.


Author(s):  
Deborah A. Wilde ◽  
Luis San Andre´s

Current applications of gas film bearings in high-speed oil-free micro-turbomachinery (<0.4 MW) require calibrated predictive tools to successfully deploy their application to mass-produced systems, for example oil-free turbochargers. The present investigation details the linear rotordynamic analysis of a test rotor supported on externally pressurized gas bearings. Model predictions are compared with the test rotordynamic response determined through comprehensive experiments conducted on a small rotor supported on three lobed hybrid (hydrostatic/hydrodynamic) rigid gas bearings. Predictions for the rotor-bearing system synchronous response to imbalance show good agreement with measurements during rotor coast downs, and manifest a decrease in damping ratio as the level of external pressurization increases. The rotor-bearing eigenvalue analysis forwards natural frequencies in accordance with the measurements, and null damping ratios evidence the threshold speeds of rotordynamic instability. Estimated whirl frequency ratios are typically 50% of rotor speed, thus predicting sub synchronous instabilities at lower rotor speeds than found experimentally when increasing the magnitude of feed pressurization. Rationale asserting the nature of the discrepancies calls for further analysis.


1968 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 818-828 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. F. Murray ◽  
M. B. Peterson

This paper is concerned with the sliding contact problems encountered in tilting pad gas bearings operating at temperatures up to 1400 deg F. Both the pivots and the bearing surfaces are considered. Short time experimental evaluations of pivot damage are summarized. The results of start-stop and high-speed rub tests on a single tilting pad hydrodynamic bearing are also described. Based on the results obtained to date, damage-resistant coatings are available for use on the bearing surfaces at high temperature. There are also suitable pivot materials, but the pivot must be properly designed to minimize slip in the contact area.


1974 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 139-146
Author(s):  
K. S. H. Sadek ◽  
B. N. Cole ◽  
D. Dowson

The study reported in this paper arose from an investigation of methods of achieving oil-free compression of refrigerant vapours. One part of the investigation included a feasibility study of a high-speed rotary machine running in self-acting gas bearings lubricated by the refrigerant. In certain designs of very high-speed rotor-bearing arrangements, centrifugal or radial growth of the journal might disturb the shape and magnitude of the nominal clearance space and thus affect the performance characteristics of the bearing. The nature and magnitude of these changes in bearing performance for uniform and for two forms of non-uniform centrifugal growth have been examined theoretically. Typical gas-film pressure distributions are presented together with design charts showing how attitude angle and load carrying capacity vary with speed. Comparisons are made with the performance of bearings having the same eccentricity ratio on the mid-plane, and guidance is given on the calculation of uniform radial growth at high speeds. It is concluded that changes in lubricating film geometry resulting from centrigual stretching might have a significant effect upon the performance of certain high-speed, self-acting gas-lubricated bearings.


2004 ◽  
Vol 127 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. X. Liu ◽  
C. J. Teo ◽  
A. H. Epstein ◽  
Z. S. Spakovszky

Several years ago an effort was undertaken at MIT to develop high-speed rotating MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems) using computer chip fabrication technology. To enable high-power density the micro-turbomachinery must be run at tip speeds of order 500m∕s, comparable to conventional scale turbomachinery. The high rotating speeds (of order 2 million rpm), the relatively low bearing aspect ratios (L∕D<0.1) due to fabrication constraints, and the laminar flow regime in the bearing gap place the micro-bearing designs to an exotic spot in the design space for hydrostatic gas bearings. This paper presents a new analytical model for axially fed gas journal bearings and reports the experimental testing of micro gas bearings to characterize and to investigate their rotordynamic behavior. The analytical model is capable of dealing with all the elements of, (1) micro-devices, (2) dynamic response characteristics of hydrostatic gas bearings, (3) evaluation of stiffness, natural frequency and damping, (4) evaluation of instability boundaries, and (5) evaluation of effects of imbalance and bearing anisotropy. First, a newly developed analytical model for hydrostatic gas journal bearings is introduced. The model consists of two parts, a fluid dynamic model for axially fed gas journal bearings and a rotordynamic model for micro-devices. Next, the model is used to predict the natural frequency, damping ratio and the instability boundary for the test devices. Experiments are conducted using a high-resolution fiber optic sensor to measure rotor speed, and a data reduction scheme is implemented to obtain imbalance-driven whirl response curves. The model predictions are validated against experimental data and show good agreement with the measured natural frequencies and damping ratios. Last, the new model is successfully used to establish bearing operating protocols and guidelines for high-speed operation.


2008 ◽  
Vol 131 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Lihua ◽  
Qi Shemiao ◽  
Yu Lie

Tilting-pad gas bearings are widely used in high-speed rotating machines due to their inherent stability characteristics. This paper advances the analytical method for prediction of the dynamic performances of tilting-pad gas bearings. The main advantage of the analytical method is that the complete set of dynamic coefficients of tilting-pad gas bearings can be obtained. The predictions show that the perturbation frequency has the strong effects on the dynamic coefficients of gas bearings. In general, at lower perturbation frequency, the equivalent direct stiffness coefficients increase with frequency, whereas equivalent direct damping coefficients dramatically reduce. For higher perturbation frequency, the dynamic coefficients are nearly independent of the frequency. Moreover, the equivalent dynamic coefficients of four-pad tilting-pad gas bearing obtained by the method in this paper are in good agreement with those obtained by Zhu and San Andres [(2007), “Rotordynamic Performance of Flexure Pivot Hydrostatic Gas Bearings for Oil-Free Turbomachinery,” ASME J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power, 129(4), pp. 1020–1027] in the published paper. The results validate the feasibility of the method presented in this paper in calculating the dynamic coefficients of gas-lubricated tilting-pad bearings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Sivadas ◽  
K. Balaji ◽  
Antriksha Vishwakarma ◽  
Sundar Ram Manikandan

Abstract The study focuses on experimental characterization of the primary atomization associated with an effervescent atomizer. Unlike the existing designs available in the literature that inject air perpendicular to the liquid flow direction, the present atomizer design utilizes coflowing air configuration. In doing so, the aerodynamic shear at the liquid–gas interface create instability and enhance the subsequent jet breakup. Both integrated and intrinsic properties of the liquid jet were extracted by utilizing high-speed flow visualization techniques. The integrated property consists of breakup length, while the intrinsic property involves primary and intermediate breakup frequencies. The primary instability is characterized by low-frequency sinusoidal mode, whereas the intermediate instability consists of high-frequency dilatational mode. Dimensionless plots of these parameters with Weber number ratio leads to a better collapse of data, thereby generating appropriate universal functions. The combined diagram of frequencies converge with increasing relative velocity. This may be due to the dominance of energy consuming sinusoidal wave as the aerodynamic shear increases.


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