Dynamic Response of Squeeze Film Dampers Operating With Bubbly Mixtures

Author(s):  
Luis San Andre´s ◽  
Oscar C. De Santiago

Squeeze film dampers (SFDs) aid to attenuate vibrations in compressors and turbines while traversing critical speeds. In actual applications, gas ingestion from the environment may lead to the formation of a foamy lubricant that degrades the rotor/bearing system dynamic performance. Impact and imbalance response tests conducted on a rigid rotor supported on SFDs, and aimed to emulate the pervasive effect of air ingestion into the damper film lands, are reported. Two types of squeeze film damper support the test rotor, one is a conventional cylindrical design with a squirrel cage type elastic support, and the other is a compact four-pad damper with integral wire EDM elastic supports. Both dampers have identical diameter and radial clearance. Controlled (air in oil) mixtures ranging from pure oil to all air conditions are supplied to the SFDs, and measurements of the transient rotor response to calibrated impact loads are conducted. System damping coefficients, identified from acceleration/load transfer functions, decrease steadily as the air content in the mixture increases. However, measurements of the rotor synchronous imbalance response conducted with a lubricant bubbly mixture (50% air volume) show little difference with test results obtained with pure lubricant supplied to the dampers. The experimental results show that air entrainment is process and device dependent, and that small amounts of lubricant enable the effective action of SFDs when the rotor traverses a critical speed.

2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 408-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis San Andres ◽  
Oscar C. De Santiago

Squeeze film dampers (SFDs) aid to attenuate vibrations in compressors and turbines while traversing critical speeds. In actual applications, gas ingestion from the environment may lead to the formation of a foamy lubricant that degrades the rotor/bearing system dynamic performance. Impact and imbalance response tests conducted on a rigid rotor supported on SFDs, and aimed to emulate the pervasive effect of air ingestion into the damper film lands, are reported. Two types of squeeze film damper support the test rotor, one is a conventional cylindrical design with a squirrel cage-type elastic support, and the other is a compact four-pad damper with integral wire EDM elastic supports. Both dampers have identical diameter and radial clearance. Controlled (air in oil) mixtures ranging from pure oil to all air conditions are supplied to the SFDs, and measurements of the transient rotor response to calibrated impact loads are conducted. System damping coefficients, identified from acceleration/load transfer functions, decrease steadily as the air content in the mixture increases. However, measurements of the rotor synchronous imbalance response conducted with a lubricant bubbly mixture (50% air volume) show little difference with test results obtained with pure lubricant supplied to the dampers. The experimental results show that air entrainment is process and device-dependent, and that small amounts of lubricant enable the effective action of SFDs when the rotor traverses a critical speed.


Author(s):  
Jorge E. Torres ◽  
Sergio E. Di´az

Squeeze Film Dampers (SFDs) are bearings that support large motion amplitudes when traversing rotor-bearing systems critical speeds. Actual practice demands bearings with operating conditions of low oil supply pressure and high frequency. In open-ended SFDs, large amplitudes of journal motion draw air into the film gap. The air ingested and entrapped results in a bubbly mixture that affects the dynamic performance and the overall damping capability of the SFDs. Diaz and San Andre´s [11] developed a model to predict the amount of air ingested into SFDs with open-ends. They proposed an innovative non-dimensional number to estimate the amount of air entrapped in the film gap, but their analytical results are limited to short length bearings. Mendez et al. [13] extended the results of Diaz and San Andre´s to finite length bearings, devising a Finite Volume Method (FVM) scheme. Even though their research presented new and significant results, they lack wider applicability that includes different geometries or boundary conditions. The present research proposes the solution of the Reynolds equation by the finite element method. Results computed by this formulation explore non-dimensional maps for determination of the amount of entrapped air. The results show that for fixed lubricant properties the amount of entrapped air depends exclusively on three dimensionless parameters: feed-squeeze flow number, length to diameter ratio, and dimensionless orbit radius.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 306-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxime Perreault ◽  
Sina Hamzehlouia ◽  
Kamran Behdinan

In high-speed turbomachinery, the presence of rotor vibrations, which produce undesirable noise or shaft deflection and losses in performance, has brought up the need for the application of a proper mechanism to attenuate the vibration amplitudes. Squeeze-film dampers (SFDs) are a widely employed solution to the steady-state vibrations in high-speed turbomachinery. SFDs contain a thin film of lubricant that is susceptible to changes in temperature. For this reason, the analysis of thermohydrodynamic (THD) effects on the SFD damping properties is essential. This paper develops a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to analyze the THD effects in SFDs, and enabling the application of CFD analysis to be a base-line for validating the accuracy of analytical THD SFD models. Specifically, the CFD results are compared against numerical simulations at different operating conditions, including eccentricity ratios and journal whirl speeds. The comparisons demonstrate the effective application of CFD for THD analysis of SFDs. Additionally, the effect of the lubricant THDs on the viscosity, maximum and mass-averaged temperature, as well as heat generation rates inside the SFD lubricant are analyzed. The temperature of the lubricant is seen to rise with increasing whirl speed, eccentricity ratios, damper radial clearance, and shaft radii.


Author(s):  
Luis San Andrés ◽  
Sung-Hwa Jeung

Squeeze film dampers (SFDs) are common in aircraft gas turbine engines, customized to provide a desired level of damping while also ensuring structural isolation. This paper presents measurements obtained in a test rig composed of a massive cartridge, an elastic structure, and an open-ends SFD with length L = 25.4 mm, diameter D = 127 mm, and radial clearance c = 0.267 mm. ISO VG 2 oil at room temperature lubricates the thin film. The measurements quantify the system transient response to sudden loads for motions departing from various static eccentricity displacements, es/c = 0–0.6. The batch of tests include recording the system response to (a) one single impact, (b) two (and three) impacts with an elapsed time of 30 ms in between, and (c) two or more consecutive impacts, without any delay, each with a load magnitude at 50% of the preceding impact. The load actions intend to reproduce, for example, a hard landing on an uneven surface or plunging motions from sudden contacts in a machine tool. The test system transient responses due to one or more impacts, each 30 ms apart, show the peak amplitude of motion (ZMAX) is proportional to the magnitude of applied load (FMAX). The identified system damping ratio (ξ) is proportional to the peak dynamic displacement as a linear system would show. Predictions of transient response from a physical SFD model accounting for fluid inertia correlate best with the experimental results as they produce greatly reduced peak dynamic motions when compared to predictions from a purely viscous SFD model. For the responses due to consecutive impacts, one after the other with no delay, the system motion does not decay immediately but builds to produce larger motion amplitudes than in the earlier cases. Eventually, as expected, after several oscillations, the system comes to rest. For an identical damper having a smaller clearance cs = 0.213 mm (0.8c), its damping ratio (ξs) is ∼1.3 to ∼1.7 times greater than the damping ratio for the damper with a larger film clearance (ξ). Hence, the experimentally derived (ξs/ξ) scales with (c/cs)2. The finding demonstrates the importance of manufacturing precisely the components in a damper to produce an accurate clearance.


1975 ◽  
Vol 97 (4) ◽  
pp. 1366-1370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin H. Sadd ◽  
A. Kent Stiffler

Gaseous squeeze film dampers are analyzed to determine the effect of periodic disturbance amplitude on the dynamic performance. Both circular and rectangular parallel surfaces are investigated. A solution of the nonlinear Reynolds equation is obtained by expanding the pressure in powers of the squeeze number σ, retaining up to and including terms 0(σ2). The time dependent load characteristics are found. The effect of disturbance amplitude on the film stiffness and damping is given.


Author(s):  
Tilmer H. Méndez ◽  
Jorge E. Torres ◽  
Marco A. Ciaccia ◽  
Sergio E. Díaz

Squeeze film dampers (SFDs) are commonly used in turbomachinery to dampen shaft vibrations in rotor-bearing systems. The main factor deterring the success of analytical models for the prediction of SFD’s performance lies on the modeling of dynamic film rupture. Usually, the cavitation models developed for journal bearings are applied to SFDs. Yet, the characteristic motion of the SFD results in the entrapment of air into the oil film, producing a bubbly mixture that cannot be represented by these models. There is a need to identify and understand the parameters that affect air entrainment and subsequent formation of a bubbly air-oil mixture within the lubricant film. A previous model by and Diazand San Andrés (2001, “A Model for Squeeze Film Dampers Operating With Air Entrapment and Validation With Experiments,” ASME J. Tribol., 123, pp. 125–133) advanced estimation of the amount of film-entrapped air based on a nondimensional number that related both geometrical and operating parameters but limited to the short bearing approximation (i.e., neglecting circumferential flow). The present study extends their work to consider the effects of finite length-to-diameter ratios. This is achieved by means of a finite volume integration of the two-dimensional, Newtonian, compressible Reynolds equation combined with the effective mixture density and viscosity defined in the work of Diaz and San Andrés. A flow balance at the open end of the film is devised to estimate the amount of air entrapped within the film. The results show, in dimensionless plots, a map of the amount of entrained air as a function of the feed-squeeze flow number, defined by Diaz and San Andrés, and the length-to-diameter ratio of the damper. Entrained air is shown to decrease as the L/D ratio increases, going from the approximate solution of Diaz and San Andrés for infinitely short SFDs down to no air entrainment for an infinite length SFD. The results of this research are of immediate engineering applicability. Furthermore, they represent a firm step to advance the understanding of the effects of air entrapment on the performance of SFDs.


1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. L. Arauz ◽  
L. A. San Andres

The effect of whirl frequency and lubricant viscosity on the dynamic pressures and force response of an open end and a partially sealed squeeze film dampers (SFD) with a radial clearance of 0.38 mm is determined experimentally. The experiments are carried out in a damper test rig executing circular centered orbits and for whirl frequencies ranging from 33 to 83 Hz. The experimental results show that the sealed SFD configuration produces larger tangential forces than the open end SFD. The tangential (damping) force increases linearly with increasing whirl frequency. For this radial clearance fluid inertia effects in the damper are found to be negligible since the squeeze film Reynolds number is less than 1.20. Cavitation was observed in both damper configurations at high frequencies and high lubricant viscosities. This condition limited the rate of increment of the damping (tangential) force with increasing frequency and reduced the radial force when lubricant viscosity increased.


1983 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 560-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Cookson ◽  
X. H. Feng ◽  
S. S. Kossa

Squeeze film damper performance is usually assessed on the assumption that the axis of the journal is parallel to that of the bearing housing. For many practical cases, for example that of the overhung fan shaft in an aero gas turbine, these two elements are unlikely to be parallel, even when self-aligning bearings are used. In this theoretical study an attempt has been made to evaluate the effect of misalignment on the magnitude of the oil-film forces produced in a squeeze film damper bearing, and to this end a computational procedure has been established. From the results reported in this paper, it has been clearly shown that the effect of misalignment in a two-land, squeeze film damper can lead to a significant increase in the transmission of unbalance force through the oil film, As an example, data from a previously reported investigation into the performance of a simple two-bearing model with a single centrally supported disk have been used in a typical calculation. The results from this computation indicated that the oil-film forces generated, could have been several times greater than those calculated on the assumption that the journal and bearing housing were parallel. Unfortunately, there do not appear to be any clear guidelines to lay down to the designers of squeeze film dampers at this moment, in relation to journal misalignment. In general, the effect of misalignment is strongest when the ratio of land-length to radial clearance is greatest, when large unbalance is being accommodated, and when the orbit size is large. In our own analytical studies, the effect of misalignment is allowed for whenever the angle of misalignment is greater than 0.0005 radians.


Author(s):  
Stephen L. Edney

It is well established that classical short bearing theory can be applied to assess squeeze film dampers whirling in circular centered orbits. This theory yields accurate values for the stiffness and damping coefficients for designs with small length-to-diameter (L/D) ratios (typically less than 0.5) whirling at amplitudes of less than half the damper radial clearance. For L/D ratio designs above 0.5 and/or whirling amplitudes approaching the damper radial clearance, the short bearing theory increasingly overestimates the stiffness and damping coefficients that stretch its applicability for some designs. There are two limitations with the classical theory that compromise the solution at high L/D ratios and large whirling amplitudes. The first is that as the L/D ratio increases, the unrestricted end flow assumption that forms the basis of the short bearing theory introduces increasingly larger errors. The second is that as the whirling amplitude approaches the damper radial clearance, the stiffness and damping coefficients approach infinity much more rapidly than those from a full solution of the governing lubrication equation. The ideal method for determining more exact values is to numerically solve the full lubrication equation, although not everyone has access to such a code. An alternative approach is to use the expressions presented in this paper that are derived from an optimized solution of the short bearing theory that appreciably reduces the errors introduced at high L/D ratios and whirling amplitudes approaching the damper radial clearance. The optimized solution yields a simple closed form correction factor based on Galerkin’s method that minimizes these errors over the positive pressure region of the oil film. This analytic correction factor increases the accuracy of the short bearing theory for all whirling amplitudes and extends the applicability of the closed form solution to larger L/D ratio damper designs. The simple closed form expressions presented herein apply to a damper whirling in a circular centered orbit for both a partial pi-film cavitated model and a full-film uncaviated model. Examples are given that demonstrate the optimized solution yields stiffness and damping values that are significantly closer to the numerical solution for L/D ratio designs up to 1.0 and/or whirling amplitudes approaching the damper radial clearance.


Author(s):  
R. A. Cookson ◽  
L. J. Dainton

An experimental investigation has been carried out into the influence of side-plate flow restrictors on the performance of a squeeze-film damper bearing. The experimental rig used was a flexible rotor with a disc positioned mid-way between two squeeze-film damper bearings. One of the squeeze-film dampers was fitted with side-plates which could be adjusted and accurately located with respect to the squeeze-film damper journal. It has been found that the influence of the side-plate clearance on the ability of the squeeze-film damper to reduce the amplitude of the central disc can be considerable if the side-plate clearance is less than the radial clearance. As the side-plate clearance reduces towards zero, the effectiveness of the squeeze-film damper diminishes until the amplitudes obtained are the same as those measured when the rolling-contact bearing is rigidly supported. An interesting type of precessing elliptical orbit was discovered for conditions where the ‘jump’ phenomenon was operating.


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