• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.77-85
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• 2014

This study set out to predict the load capacity and rotordynamic coefficients of tilting-pad journal bearings, taking the pivot stiffness into account. The analysis uses rocker-back (cylindrical) and ball in socket (spherical) pivot models, both of which are based on Hertzian contact stress theory. The models ascertain the non-linear elastic deformation of the pivots according to the applied load, pivot geometry, and material properties. At present, the Reynolds equation for an isothermal, isoviscous, and incompressible fluid is used to calculate the film pressure by using the finite-element method, after which the Newton-Raphson method is used to simultaneously find the journal center location, pad angles, and pivot deflections. The bearing analysis, excluding the pivot models, is validated using predictions those are readily available in the literature. As the rotor speed increases, the predicted journal eccentricity and damping coefficients decrease, but the stiffness coefficients increase, as expected. Most importantly, the implementation of the pivot models increases the journal eccentricity but significantly decreases the stiffness and damping coefficients of the tilting-pad journal bearings.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.91-100
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• 1997

In this paper the linearzed stiffness and damping coefficients of tilting pad thrust bearing are calculated by the perturbation method. The coefficients are obtained for a wide range of pivot positions. The effects of exciting frequency and pad mass on stiffness and damping coefficients are investigated. Critical frequencies due to the tilting motions of the pad are presented and are shown to be strongly influenced by the pivot position and pad mass.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.224-230
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• 2001

A numerical analysis for the gas lubricated flexure-pivot tilting pad journal bearing has been accomplished. The film pressure are obtained by Newton-Raphson method and the dynamic coefficients are evaluated by the pad assembly method. The effects of the pivot position of the pad on the static and dynamic characteristics are presented for three pads journal bearing with LBP. The optimum pivot positions for the static performance is different from that of the dynamic performance.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.2325-2334
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• 2023

To study the lubrication performance of tilting-pad thrust bearing (TPTBs) during start-up in nuclear pump, a hydrodynamic lubrication model of TPTBs was established based on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method and the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) technique. Further, a mesh motion algorithm for the transient calculation of thrust bearings was developed based on the user defined function (UDF). The result demonstrated that minimum film thickness increases first and then decreases with the rotational speed under start-up condition. The influence of pad tilt on minimum film thickness is greater than that of collar movement at low speed, and the establishment of dynamic pressure mainly depends on pad tilt and minimum film thickness increases. As the increase of rotational speed, the influence of pad tilt was abated, where the influence of the moving of the collar dominated gradually, and minimum film thickness decreases. For TPTBs, the circumferential angle of the pad is always greater than the radial angle. When the rotational speed is constant, the change rate of radial angle is greater than that of circumferential angle with the increase of loading forces. This study can provide reference for improving bearing wear resistance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.281-288
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• 2003

In this paper, seismic responses of large tilting pad journal bearings which have $3\~5$ tilting pads were numerically analyzed. The turbulent lubrication equation, the energy equation and motion equation were solved at each time step. The regime of operation of this bearing is laminar, turbulent and transitional. Also viscosity of working fluid was considered as function of only temperature and inlet pressure build-up was considered. Numerical results for a large tilting pad journal bearing showed journal center, maximum temperature, maximum pressure, friction torque. The relationship of bearing response and seismic intensity are discussed.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.183-190
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• 2018

Tilting pad journal bearing is widely used for steam turbines because of its excellent dynamic stability. As the turbine capacity increases, power loss in the bearings becomes a matter of concern. Power loss in tilting pad journal bearings can be reduced by increasing the bearing clearance and reducing the pad arc length. In this study, the tilting pad journal bearing is tested by changing the seal tooth clearance to verify the static characteristics of the bearing. Bearing power loss and bearing metal temperature are evaluated to compare the bearing's performance and reliability for several test cases. The test bearing is a tilting pad journal bearing with 300.62mm inner diameter and 120.00mm active length. The bearing power loss, its metal temperature, and oil film thickness are measured and evaluated based on the rotor's rotational speed, oil flow rate, and bearing load. Test results show that a tilting pad journal bearing with large seal tooth clearance has 40% lower power loss compared with a bearing with a small seal tooth clearance. As the seal tooth clearance is increased, the power loss of the tilting pad journal bearing decreases. However, with respect to the bearing metal temperatures, a detuning point is observed that makes the minimum bearing metal temperature. Moreover, as the seal tooth clearance is increased, the oil film thickness increases due to high viscosity.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2020

Self-equalizing tilting pad thrust bearings are usually employed in turbomachines to achieve high stability and reliability. A tilting pad bearing can incorporate self-equalizing links to handle the misalignment between the bearing and the thrust collar. In this popular design method, the pads sit on the upper-level plates and the lower-level plates stay on the retainer base. With misalignment, the pads that are heavily loaded are pushed down. Consequently, the link pushes up the pads on the opposite side, keeping the bearing surface parallel to the thrust collar surface. The self-equalizing link is used to handle the misalignment from the thermal and mechanical effects. In this study, the experimental investigation deals with the performance of self-equalizing tilting pad thrust bearings. The test rig for evaluating the performance of bearing is developed which can control the misalignment angle. Simultaneous measurements are taken for the force acting on each pad. Pad metal temperature and oil film thickness are functions of the shaft speed, bearing load, misalignment angle, and design of leveling plates. The effect of misalignment on bearing performance is discussed. The results demonstrate that the load on each pad depends on the test conditions(especially misalignment angle), and the load influences the performance of bearings.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2002.10b
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• pp.99-100
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• 2002

Radial, tilting-pad proceeding bearings are applied in high speed rotating machines operating at stable small and mean loads and the peripheral speeds of proceeding reaching 150 m/s. The operation of bearing can be determined by static characteristics including the oil film pressure, temperature and viscosity distributions, minimum oil film thickness, load capacity, power loss, oil flow. The operation of 5-lobe tilted-pad proceeding bearing has been introduced at the assumption of adiabatic oil film. The oil film pressure, temperature and viscosity distributions habe received by iterative solution of the Reynolds', energy and viscosity equations. The resulting oil film force, minimum oil film thickness, power loss. oil flow, maximum oil film pressure, maximum temperature were computed for different sets of bearing geometric parameters as: bearing length to diameter ratio, pad angular length and width as well as pad relative clearance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2002.10b
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• pp.113-114
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• 2002

Radial, tilting 12-pad proceeding bearings are applied as the radial bearings of vertical rotors of water turbines. The mean loads are stable at the peripheral speeds of proceeding reaching 50 m/s. The operation of tilting 12-pads proceeding bearing has been introduced at the assumption of adiabatic oil film. The oil film pressure, temperature and viscosity distributions have been obtained by iterative solution of the Reynolds', energy and viscosity equations. The resulting oil film force, minimum oil film thickness, power loss, oil flow, maximum oil film pressure, maximum temperature have been computed for different load angle of bearing.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.43-48
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• 2018

This paper presents the thermohydrodynamic analysis of tilting journal pad bearings supporting a power turbine rotor applied to a 250 kW super-critical $CO_2$ cycle. In the analysis, the generalized Reynolds equation and 3D energy equation are solved to predict oil film temperature and the 3D heat conduction equation is solved for pad temperature. The power turbine rotor is supported by two tilting pad bearings consisting of five pads with an oil supply block between the pads. Copper backing pads with higher thermal conductivity compared to steel backing pads are adopted to improve thermal management. The predicted maximum pad temperature is around $55^{\circ}C$ which is approximately $15^{\circ}C$ higher than oil supply temperature. In addition, the predicted minimum film thickness is 50 mm at a rotating speed of 5,000 rpm. These results indicate that there is no issue in the thermal behavior of the bearing. An operation test is performed with a power turbine module consisting of a power turbine, a reduction gear and a generator. Thermocouples are installed at the 75% position from the leading edge of the pad to monitor pad temperature. The power turbine uses compressed air at a temperature of $250^{\circ}C$ in its operation. The steady state pad temperatures measured in the test show good agreement with the predicted temperatures.