• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.37-43
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• 2008

The durability test of turbo-blower for PEM fuel cell is very important process of BOP development. It is a major barrier to the commercialization of these systems for stationary and transportation power applications. Commercial viability depends on improving the durability of the air supply system to increase the reliability and to reduce the lifetime cost. In this study, turbo-blower supported by oil-free bearing is introduced as the air supply system used by 80kW proton exchange membrane fuel systems. The turbo-blower is a turbo machine which operates at high speed, so air foil bearings suit their purpose as bearing elements. The impeller of blower was adopted mixed type of centrifugal and axial. So, it has several advantages for variable operating condition. The turbo-blower test results show maximum parasitic power levels below 1.67kW with the 30,000 rpm rotating speed, the flow rate of air has maximum 163SCFM(@PR1.1). For proper application of FCV, these have to durability test. This paper describes the experiment for confirming endurance and stability of the turbo-blower for 500 hours.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.103-110
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• 2024

Gas foil thrust bearings (GFTBs) are oil-free self-acting hydrodynamic bearings that support axial loads with a low friction during airborne operation. They need solid lubricants to reduce dry-friction between the runner and top foil and minimize local wears on their surfaces during start-up and shutdown processes. In this study, we evaluate the lift-off speeds and load capacity performance of a GFTB with Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) surface coating by measuring drag torques during a series of experimental tests at increasing ambient temperatures of 25, 75 and 110℃. An electric heat gun provides hot air to the test GFTB operating in the closed booth to increase the ambient temperature. Test results show that the increasing ambient temperature delays the lift-off speed and decreases the load capacity of the test GFTB. An early developed prediction tool well predicts the measured drag torques at 60 krpm. After all tests, post inspections of the surface coating of the top foil are conducted. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images imply that abrasive wear and oxidation wear are dominant during the tests at 25℃ and 110℃, respectively. A quantitative energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) microanalysis reveals that the weight percentages of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen decrease, while that of fluorine increases significantly during the highest-temperature tests. The study demonstrates that the increasing ambient temperature noticeably deteriorates the static performances and degrades the surface coating of the test GFTB.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.12a
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• pp.307-313
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• 2002

In the paper, the prototype development of a 75kW class microturbine for the distributed generation market is partly presented which has continued with the government funding. In the introduction, an overview of the development of microturbines in the world is presented. A series of development procedures are shown with design, manufacture and self-sustaining tests. During the first year, aerodynamic and structural design/analysis, mechanical design are performed for the compressor, the turbine and the combustor. A premixed lean burn combustor technology is used fur the low emission requirements. Foil air bearings and high-speed motors are employed for higher reliability. The self-sustaining conditions have been successfully achieved with the prototype manufactured engine as a preceding operation.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2007.04c
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• pp.16-18
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• 2007

The Super High-Speed Motor is a turbo machine which operates at high speed, so air foil bearings suit their purpose as bearing elements. The rotordynamic stability was predicted using the numerical analysis of air foil bearings. From this study, the stability of rotor of the Super High-Speed Motor was confirmed by campbell diagram and logarithmic decrement.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.354-359
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• 2001

A flexible rotor was smoothly passed through its bending critical speed, which is supported by AFB. Then, maximum magnitude of the rotor vibration at the middle point was 25${\mu}$m. The test rig was largely consisted of air turbine, multi-leaf type air foil bearing and flexible rotor and its bending critical speed was 32,600 rpm. And the balancing system and method for field balancing of the flexible rotor were developd successfully.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2019

The paper presents the rotordynamic performance measurements and model predictions of a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) air compressor supported on gas foil bearings (GFBs). The rotor has an impeller on one end and a thrust runner on the other end. The front (impeller side) and rear (thrust side) gas foil journal bearings (GFJBs) are located between the impeller and thrust runner to support the radial loads, and a pair of gas foil thrust bearings are located on both sides of the thrust runner to support the axial loads. The test GFJBs have a partial arc shim foil installed between the top foil and bump strip layers to enhance hydrodynamic pressure generation. During the rotordynamic performance tests, two sets of orthogonally installed eddy-current displacement sensors measure the rotor radial motions at the rotor impeller and thrust ends. A series of speed-up and coast-down tests to 100k rpm demonstrates the dominant synchronous (1X) rotor responses to imbalance masses without noticeable subsynchronous motions, which indicates a rotordynamically stable rotor-GFB system. Finite element analysis of the rotor determines the rotor free-free (bending) natural modes and frequencies well beyond the maximum rotating frequency. The predicted damped natural frequencies and damping ratios of the rotor-GFB system reveal rotordynamic stability over the speeds of interest. The imbalance response predictions show that the predicted critical speeds and rotor amplitudes strongly agree with the test measurements, thus validating the developed rotordynamic model.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.12-18
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• 2015

Recently, the development trend of turbomachinery is high capacity and high efficiency. Most of turbomachinery in the market are adopting ball bearings or air foil bearings. However, ball bearings have a limit for high speed product over $2.0{\times}10^6DN$(product of the inner diameter of the bearing in mm (D) and the maximum speed in rpm (N)). Air foil bearings have a limit for high axial load for high power products over 200~300 HP(horse power). Magnetic bearing is one of the solutions to overcome the limits of high speed and high axial load. Because magnetic bearings have no friction between the rotor and the bearings, they can reduce the load of the motor and make it possible to increase the rotating speed up to $5.0{\times}10^6DN$. Moreover, they can have high axial load capacity, because the axial load capacity of magnetic bearing depends on the capacity of the designed electromagnet. In this study, the radial and thrust magnetic bearings are designed to be applied to the 200 HP class turbo blower, and their performance was evaluated by the experiment. Based on the tests up to 26,400 rpm and 21,000 rpm under the no-load and load condition, respectively, it was verified that the magnetic bearings are stably support the rotor of the turbo blower.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.12a
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• pp.323-323
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• 2003

Many recent development activities suggest the possibility of a high-speed turbo(centrifugal) compressor or blower for the industrial application of compressed air supplying system when used with the most advanced high-speed motor, inverter technology, and advanced bearing for high rotational speed. The problems to be overcome are of reliability, the application of mass production methods, cost effective manufacture and competitive running costs. This presentation is not focused on a specific technology advances but on an overall review of our recent experiences while we have developed the high pressure turbo blower for the commercial purpose.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.39 no.10
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• pp.1029-1037
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• 2015

Recently, the importance of rotordynamic stability has been increased because of the tendency to employ ultra-high speeds in rotating machinery. In particular, the dynamic characteristics of gas bearings for high-speed rotating machinery need to be identified at various excitation frequencies to predict the rotor's behavior. In this study, we perform dynamic loading tests for gas-foil bearings (GFBs) to determine the bump foil structure and an air-film combined bump-foil structure for varying excitation frequencies. We calculate the dynamic characteristics from the measured force and displacement data. The air film is generated by a pressurized air supply. Based on the results, the stiffness coefficients of the bump structure and the air-film combined bump structure increased, while the damping coefficients decreased at increasing excitation frequencies. Further, the stiffness and damping coefficients of the air-film combined structure show lower values than those of the bump structure. Consequently, we identify the frequency-dependent dynamic characteristics of the bump structure and the effect of gas film on the dynamic characteristics of GFBs. Furthermore, to reveal the effectiveness of the proposed method, we perform experiments and discuss two methods of extracting the dynamic characteristics from the measured data.

• Proceedings of the Korea Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.81-90
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• 2002

Air entrainment of a winding roll with a nip roller was studied numerically. The amount of air entrainment between two rotating rollers was obtained by solving lubrication equation, Reynolds equation, which neglect the existence of a web. However, the numerical model of this study included the web existence, therefore it considered the two lubricating air films between a winding roll and a web and also between a nip roller and the web. The pressure profiles and gap profiles of the two films were obtained by solving lubrication equation for the two air films and force balance equation of the web. Ballooning phenomenon was examined in terms of nip force, wrap angle, web stiffness, web speed, and web tension. This ballooning phenomenon caused by the back flow of the air film blocked by the nip roller. Air entrainment of the two numerical models was compared.