Inlet Pressure Effects on the Thermohydrodynamic Performance of a Large Tilting Pad Journal Bearing

1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 160-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun Cheon Ha ◽  
Ho Jong Kim ◽  
Kyung Woong Kim

Inlet pressure effects on the thermohydrodynamic performance of a 4-pad large tilting pad journal bearing are investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The theory takes into account the inlet pressure and the three-dimensional variation of oil viscosity and eddy viscosity. Film pressure, film thickness, bearing metal temperature, load capacity, and eccentricity are measured by experiments. A noticeable inlet pressure rise is observed at the entrance of pads. It is shown that the inlet pressure increases not only the film pressure and the load capacity but also the supply flow rate, while it decreases the mixing and bearing surface temperature. The bearing characteristics predicted by the turbulent thermohydrodynamic theory, including the inlet pressure, are in good agreement with the experimental results. Therefore it can be suggested that the inlet pressure must be taken into account in theoretical calculations in order to predict the thermohydrodynamic performance of large tilting pad journal bearings accurately.

2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
F. A. Lara-Molina ◽  
A. A. Cavalini ◽  
V. Steffen ◽  
N. V. Cabrera

Abstract This paper evaluates the effects of uncertainties on the load capacity of a four-pad tilting-pad journal bearing, in which the pad radius, oil viscosity, and radial clearance are considered as uncertain information. The hydrodynamic supporting forces at the bearing pads are obtained by solving the Reynolds equation. In this case, the uncertain parameters are modeled as fuzzy type-2 variables. Fuzzy type-2 sets have been widely used due to their ability to model higher orders of uncertainties as compared with the fuzzy type-1 approach. They allow for inaccurate knowledge to be included in the membership functions used to describe the uncertain parameters. In the present contribution, the so-called α-level optimization was associated with the fuzzy type-2 technique for uncertainty analysis purposes. A sensitivity analysis was also carried out as an additional assessment of the considered uncertain parameters. The numerical results allowed to understand how the uncertain parameters affect the bearing supporting forces for three shaft speeds, namely, 3000, 9000, and 15,000 rpm. It was demonstrated that the effect of the uncertain parameters on the supporting forces increases according to the shaft speed. Additionally, the load capacity revealed to be more sensitive to variations on the oil viscosity and radial clearance than to the pad radius concerning the adopted uncertain interval. Consequently, the obtained results can provide suitable information for the design, manufacturing, and maintenance of tilting-pad journal bearings.


Lubricants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Eckhard Schüler ◽  
Olaf Berner

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.


2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Cavalini ◽  
A. G. S. Dourado ◽  
F. A. Lara-Molina ◽  
V. Steffen

This paper is dedicated to the analysis of uncertainties affecting the load capability of a 4-pad tilting-pad journal bearing in which the load is applied on a given pad load on pad configuration (LOP). A well-known stochastic method has been used extensively to model uncertain parameters by using the so-called Monte Carlo simulation. However, in the present contribution, the inherent uncertainties of the bearing parameters (i.e., the pad radius, the oil viscosity, and the radial clearance; bearing assembly clearance) are modeled by using a fuzzy dynamic analysis. This alternative methodology seems to be more appropriate when the stochastic process that characterizes the uncertainties is unknown. The analysis procedure is confined to the load capability of the bearing, being generated by the envelopes of the pressure fields developed on each pad. The hydrodynamic supporting forces are determined by considering a nonlinear model, which is obtained from the solution of the Reynolds equation. The most significant results are associated to the changes in the steady-state condition of the bearing due to the reaction forces that are modified according to the uncertainties introduced in the system. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the uncertainty analysis in this case provides relevant information both for design and maintenance of tilting-pad hydrodynamic bearings.


Author(s):  
Aldemir Ap Cavalini ◽  
Fabian Andres Lara-Molina ◽  
Arinan Dourado ◽  
Valder Steffen

This paper is dedicated to the analysis of uncertainties affecting the load capability of a 4-pad tilting-pad journal bearing, in which the load is applied between two pads (load on pad configuration; LOP). A well-known stochastic method has been extensively used to model uncertain parameters, the so-called Monte Carlo simulation. However, in the present contribution, the inherent uncertainties of the bearings’ parameters (i.e. the pad radius, the oil viscosity, and the radial clearance) are modeled by using a fuzzy logic based analysis. This alternative methodology seems to be more appropriate when the stochastic process that characterizes the uncertainties is unknown. The analysis procedure is confined to the load capability of the bearing, being generated by the envelopes of the pressure fields developed on each pad. The hydrodynamic supporting forces are determined by considering a nonlinear model, which is obtained from the solution of the Reynolds’ equation. The most significant results are associated to the changes in the dynamic behavior of the bearing because of the reaction forces that are modified according the uncertainties introduced in the system. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the uncertainty analysis in this case provides relevant information both for design and maintenance of tilting-pad hydrodynamic bearings.


1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (3) ◽  
pp. 621-627 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Desbordes ◽  
M. Fillon ◽  
C. Chan Hew Wai ◽  
J. Frene

A theoretical nonlinear analysis of tilting-pad journal bearings is presented for small and large unbalance loads under isothermal conditions. The radial displacements of internal pad surface due to pressure field are determined by a two-dimensional finite element method in order to define the actual film thickness. The influence of pad deformations on the journal orbit, on the minimum film thickness and on the maximum pressure is studied. The effects of pad displacements are to decrease the minimum film thickness and to increase the maximum pressure. The orbit amplitude is also increased by 20 percent for the large unbalance load compared to the one obtained for rigid pad.


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

For several years, researchers have presented predictions showing that using a full tilting-pad journal bearing (TPJB) model (retaining all of the pad degrees of freedom) is necessary to accurately perform stability calculations for a shaft operating on TPJBs. This paper will discuss this issue, discuss the importance of pad and pivot flexibility in predicting impedance coefficients for the tilting-pad journal bearing, present measured changes in bearing clearance with operating temperature, and summarize the differences between measured and predicted frequency dependence of dynamic impedance coefficients. The current work presents recent test data for a 100 mm (4 in) five-pad TPJB tested in load on pad (LOP) configuration. Measured results include bearing clearance as a function of operating temperature, pad clearance and radial displacement of the loaded pad (the pad having the static load vector directed through its pivot), and frequency dependent stiffness and damping. Measured hot bearing clearances are approximately 30% smaller than measured cold bearing clearances and are inversely proportional to pad surface temperature; predicting bearing impedances with a rigid pad and pivot model using these reduced clearances results in overpredicted stiffness and damping coefficients that are several times larger than previous comparisons. The effect of employing a full bearing model versus a reduced bearing model (where only journal degrees of freedom are retained) in a stability calculation for a realistic rotor-bearing system is assessed. For the bearing tested, the bearing coefficients reduced at the frequency of the unstable eigenvalue (subsynchronously reduced) predicted a destabilizing cross-coupled stiffness coefficient at the onset of instability within 1% of the full model, while synchronously reduced coefficients for the lightly loaded bearing required 25% more destabilizing cross-coupled stiffness than the full model to cause system instability. The same stability calculation was performed using measured stiffness and damping coefficients at synchronous and subsynchronous frequencies. These predictions showed that both the synchronously measured stiffness and damping and predictions using the full bearing model were more conservative than the model using subsynchronously measured stiffness and damping, an outcome that is completely opposite from conclusions reached by comparing different prediction models. This contrasting outcome results from a predicted increase in damping with increasing excitation frequency at all speeds and loads; however, this increase in damping with increasing excitation frequency was only measured at the most heavily loaded conditions.


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