ORCID Identifier(s)

0000-0001-7888-0149

Graduation Semester and Year

2017

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

First Advisor

Daejong Kim

Abstract

Air foil bearings (AFBs) are introduced as promising bearings for oil-free turbomachinery applications. Air foil bearing (AFB) technology has made substantial advancement during the past decades and found its applications in various small turbomachinery. AFBs provide reliable operation at high speed and high temperature with negligible power loss. However, rotordynamic instability, friction and drag during the start/stop, and thermal management are still challenges for further application of the technology. Hybrid Air Foil Bearing (HAFB) technology utilizes the radial injection of externally pressurized air into the traditional hydrodynamic AFB’s film thickness through orifices attached to the top foil. HAFB is one of the technology advancements to the conventional AFB. Previous studies on HAFBs demonstrate the enhancement in the load capacity at low speeds, reduction or elimination of the friction and wear during starts/stops, better heat dissipation capability, and enhancement in rotordynamic stability. This dissertation is dedicated to explore the benefit of the HAFB to enhance the rotordynamic stability by employing a controlled hydrostatic injection. Moreover, this dissertation investigates the effect of circumferential location of radial injection on the rotordynamic performance of HAFB. Analytical and experimental evaluations of the rotordynamic performance of a rotor supported by two HAFBs with the controlled hydrostatic injection, which utilizes the injections at particular locations to control eccentricity and attitude angle are presented. To investigate the effect of circumferential location of orifices, parametric studies are conducted using three sets of single-pad HAFBs. The circumferential locations of orifices are different for each set. The presented simulation analyses consist of time-domain orbit simulation and frequency-domain modal analysis. The simulations in both time-domain orbit simulations and frequency-domain modal analyses indicate a substantial improvement of the rotor-bearing performance. The simulation results were verified in a high speed test rig (maximum speed of 70,000 rpm). Both simulations and experiments clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of the controlled hydrostatic injection on improving the rotordynamic performance of AFB. Imbalance responses of rotor-HAFB were measured with various orifice locations and the results agree well with predictions. Comparison of the rotordynamic performance of HAFBs with different orifice configurations demonstrate substantial improvement in rotordynamic stability as well as enhancement in the stiffness and damping coefficients of HAFBs by choosing the best circumferential location for radial injection to control rotor eccentricity and attitude angle.

Keywords

Rotordynamic, Foil bearings, Gas foil bearings, Bearings, Vibration, Hybrid foil bearings, Hydrostatic foil bearings

Disciplines

Aerospace Engineering | Engineering | Mechanical Engineering

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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