Experimental Investigation of Prototype Water-Lubricated Compliant Foil Bearings

2011 ◽  
Vol 490 ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artur Olszewski ◽  
Michał Wodtke ◽  
Piotr Hryniewicz
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Friction Coefficient ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Journal Bearings ◽  
Radial Load ◽  
Sliding Speed ◽  
Good Tolerance ◽  
Foil Bearings ◽  
Water Pumps

First gas-lubricated compliant foil bearings (CFBs) were built in the 1950s. Due to their significant advantages, such as oil-free operation, good tolerance to bearing misalignment and very low maintenance, they have been penetrating the bearing applications for high speed compressors, air-cycle machines and gas turbines. The work presented here investigates a novel idea of water-lubricated compliant foil bearings, which could be used in applications where environmentally friendly lubrication is desired, for example in hydroelectric turbines or water pumps. Experimental results collected for three prototype water-lubricated foil journal bearings are presented. The tests were conducted under steady radial load and with the sliding speed varied incrementally. A sequence of design improvements is presented, with the best bearing demonstrating friction coefficient of about 0.01 at the sliding speed of about 4 m/s and the radial load of about 300 kPa. Encountered difficulties, research methodology and the testing equipment are also described.

Challenges and Solutions of Recent Thick-Film Bearings (Keynote)

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masato Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Thick Film ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Hydrodynamic Lubrication ◽  
Journal Bearings ◽  
Design Tools ◽  
Foil Bearings ◽  
Bearing Materials ◽  
Bearing Design ◽  
Lubrication Models

Recent challenges and solutions are outlined and discussed for various thick-film bearings in this keynote address. What come into focus are large bearings for utility turbines, titling pad journal bearings for high speed rotating machinery, small bearings for turbochargers and HDD systems, automobile engine bearings and air-lubricated foil bearings for micro gas turbines. Depending on the challenges, different solutions are proposed, such as bearing design tools based on highly reliable hydrodynamic lubrication models, bearing materials for higher performance and less maintenance costs, and countermeasures for unstable shaft vibrations. Effective solutions have been given to some challenges, but not yet to the others. Tribologists are encouraged to pioneer new horizon in this field, defying hard routes.

Development and Validation of a Three-Dimensional Multiphase Flow CFD Analysis for Journal Bearings in Steam and Heavy Duty Gas Turbines

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Uhkoetter ◽  
Stefan aus der Wiesche ◽  
Michael Kursch ◽  
Christian Beck
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Multiphase Flow ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Air Entrainment ◽  
Journal Bearings ◽  
Heavy Duty ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Two Phase

The traditional method for hydrodynamic journal bearing analysis usually applies the lubrication theory based on the Reynolds equation and suitable empirical modifications to cover turbulence, heat transfer, and cavitation. In cases of complex bearing geometries for steam and heavy-duty gas turbines this approach has its obvious restrictions in regard to detail flow recirculation, mixing, mass balance, and filling level phenomena. These limitations could be circumvented by applying a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach resting closer to the fundamental physical laws. The present contribution reports about the state of the art of such a fully three-dimensional multiphase-flow CFD approach including cavitation and air entrainment for high-speed turbo-machinery journal bearings. It has been developed and validated using experimental data. Due to the high ambient shear rates in bearings, the multiphase-flow model for journal bearings requires substantial modifications in comparison to common two-phase flow simulations. Based on experimental data, it is found, that particular cavitation phenomena are essential for the understanding of steam and heavy-duty type gas turbine journal bearings.

An experimental investigation of a microturbine simulated rotor supported on multileaf gas foil bearings with backing bump foils

2017 ◽  
Vol 232 (9) ◽  
pp. 1169-1180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Zhang ◽  
Shemiao Qi ◽  
Sheng Feng ◽  
Haipeng Geng ◽  
Yanhua Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Preliminary Test ◽  
Journal Bearings ◽  
Rotating Machinery ◽  
System Stability ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
Thrust Bearings ◽  
Foil Bearings ◽  
Simulated System ◽  
First Time

Two multileaf gas foil journal bearings with backing bump foils and one set of gas foil thrust bearings were designed, fabricated, and used in a 100 kW class microturbine simulated rotor system to ensure stability of the system. Meanwhile, a preliminary test rig had been built to verify the simulated system stability. The rotor synchronous and subsynchronous responses were well controlled by using of the gas foil bearings. It is on the multileaf gas foil bearings with backing bump foils that the test was conducted and verified for the first time in open literatures. The success in the experiments shows that the design and fabrication of the rotor and the gas foil bearings can provide a useful guide to the development of the advanced high speed rotating machinery.

Ti3AlC2 — A Soft Ceramic Exhibiting Low Friction Coefficient

2005 ◽  
Vol 475-479 ◽  
pp. 1251-1254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Xiang Zhai ◽  
Zhen Ying Huang ◽  
Yang Zhou ◽  
Zhi Li Zhang ◽  
Shi Bo Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Friction Coefficient ◽  
Friction Surface ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Low Carbon Steel ◽  
Normal Pressure ◽  
Aluminum Carbide ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Friction Behavior ◽  
Sliding Speed ◽  
Al And Fe Oxides

The friction behavior of a high-purity bulk titanium aluminum carbide (Ti3AlC2) material dryly sliding against low carbon steel was investigated. Tests were performed using a block-on-disk type high-speed friction tester under sliding speed of 20 m/s and 60 m/s, several normal pressures from 0.1 to 0.8 MPa. The results showed that the friction coefficient is as low as about 0.18 for sliding speed of 20 m/s and only 0.1 for 60 m/s, and that almost not changes with the normal pressure. The reason could be related with the presence of a surface layer on the friction surface. The layer was analyzed to consist of Ti, Al and Fe oxides, which played a lubricate part inducing the friction coefficient decrease on the friction surface.

A Tribological Study of Partial-Arc Bearings With Egg-Shaped Surface Texture for Microturbine Applications

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Bompos ◽  
P. G. Nikolakopoulos ◽  
C. I. Papadopoulos ◽  
L. Kaiktsis
Keyword(s):  
Friction Coefficient ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Stokes Equations ◽  
Slenderness Ratio ◽  
Substantial Improvement ◽  
Journal Bearings ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Tribological Study ◽  
Wide Range

Recent research has demonstrated that proper use of texture geometries can improve the performance of journal and thrust bearings. In particular, for journal bearings, elliptical and egg-shaped texture patterns appear as promising candidates for improving bearing performance, in terms of load carrying capacity and friction coefficient. The expected advantages should also hold for partial-arc bearings, which, for small scale – high speed applications, are characterized by significant advantages, in comparison to full bearings. In the present paper, a tribological study of partial-arc journal bearings with periodic egg-shaped texture applied on the stator surface is presented. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are performed and processed to yield the bearing performance indices. Here, the bearing geometry and the texture characteristics are defined parametrically; a wide range of bearing designs is thus accounted for. Flow simulations are based on the numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible isothermal flow. The effects of dimple shape, bearing eccentricity, bearing arc angle, and slenderness ratio on the bearing performance are investigated. The present results demonstrate that a substantial improvement of journal bearing performance, especially in terms of the friction coefficient, in comparison to that of smooth bearings, is feasible.

High-speed bearings for micro gas turbines: stability analysis of foil bearings

2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. S282-S289 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Vleugels ◽  
T Waumans ◽  
J Peirs ◽  
F Al-Bender ◽  
D Reynaerts
Keyword(s):  
Stability Analysis ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Foil Bearings

On the Performance of Hybrid Foil-Magnetic Bearings

1999 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Heshmat ◽  
H. Ming Chen ◽  
J. F. Walton,
Keyword(s):  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Magnetic Bearing ◽  
Journal Bearings ◽  
Load Carrying Capacity ◽  
Foil Bearings ◽  
Foil Bearing ◽  
Magnetic Elements ◽  
Load Carrying ◽  
Hybrid Bearing

Recent technological advancements make hybridization of the magnetic and foil bearings both possible and extremely attractive. Operation of the foil/magnetic bearing takes advantage of the strengths of each individual bearing while minimizing each other’s weaknesses. In this paper one possible hybrid foil and magnetic bearing arrangement is investigated and sample design and operating parameters are presented. One of the weaknesses of the foil bearings, like any hydrodynamic bearing, is that contact between the foil bearing and the shaft occurs at rest or at very low speeds and it has low load carrying capacity at low speeds. For high speed applications, AMBs are, however, vulnerable to rotor-bending or structural resonances that can easily saturate power amplifiers and make the control system unstable. Since the foil bearing is advantageous for high speed operation with a higher load carrying capacity, and the magnetic bearing is so in low speed range, it is a natural evolution to combine them into a hybrid bearing system thus utilizing the advantages of both. To take full advantage of the foil and magnetic elements comprising a hybrid bearing, it is imperative that the static and dynamic characteristics of each bearing be understood. This paper describes the development of a new analysis technique that was used to evaluate the performance of a class of gas-lubricated journal bearings. Unlike conventional approaches, the solution of the governing hydrodynamic equations dealing with compressible fluid is coupled with the structural resiliency of the bearing surfaces. The distribution of the fluid film thickness and pressures, as well as the shear stresses in a finite-width journal bearing, are computed. Using the Finite Element (FE) method, the membrane effect of an elastic top foil was evaluated and included in the overall analytical procedure. Influence coefficients were generated to address the elasticity effects of combined top foil and elastic foundation on the hydrodynamics of journal bearings, and were used to expedite the numerical solution. The overall program logic proved to be an efficient technique to deal with the complex structural compliance of various foil bearings. Parametric analysis was conducted to establish tabulated data for use in a hybrid foil/magnetic bearing design analysis. A load sharing control algorithm between the foil and magnetic elements is also discussed. [S0742-4795(00)01201-1]

An Experimental Investigation on Friction Coefficient in Plain Journal Bearings During Start-Up

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bouyer ◽  
M. Fillon
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Friction Coefficient ◽  
Journal Bearings ◽  
Radial Clearance ◽  
Experimental Measurements ◽  
Air Bearings ◽  
Specific Pressure ◽  
Thrust Bearings ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Transient Thermal

The start-up friction coefficient is a parameter which is very useful for engineers who design hydrodynamic bearings. It is most often issued from an approximation. Several studies can be found in the literature on this topic but most of them are concerned with air bearings or are only numerical. Some studies are more general and deal with the transient thermal behaviour in journal bearings as well as in thrust bearings. Other studies deal with the friction coefficient during running, at a fixed rotational speed. The aim of this study is to provide experimental measurements of the bush torque during start-up of plain journal bearings, varying the specific pressure. Thus, the friction coefficient at start-up (deduced from measurements) is obtained for four different bearings varying feeding conditions, radial clearance and length.

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