• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.12a
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• pp.199-206
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• 2002

This paper describes a reliability characteristics of an air foil journal bearing for high speed turbomachinery at room temperature. To verify the reliability of air foil journal bearing, lift-off characteristics, load carrying capacity, and 10,000 cycle start-stop test were performed with motor driven test rig. Lift-off test shows the relationship between the rotating speed of the shaft and the frictional torque with bearing surface. About load carrying capacity, the tested air foil journal bearing produced a load capacity of 500N at an operating speed of 15,000rpm, which is compared with results of numerical analysis and empirical coefficients. Finally, The trends in change of start torque, stop torque, and bearing temperature were shown during 10,000 cycle start-stop test of an air foil journal bearing. from the results of this work, an air foil bearing will be done well, as a supported bearing for high speed turbo-compressor.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.6 no.2 s.19
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• pp.7-14
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• 2003

This paper describes reliability characteristics of an air foil journal bearing for high-speed turbomachinery at a room temperature. To verify the reliability of air foil journal bearing, lift-off characteristics, load carrying capacity, and 10,000 cycle start-stop test were performed with a motor-driven test rig. A lift-off test shows the relationship between the rotating speed of the shaft and the frictional torque with bearing surface. About a load-carrying capacity, the tested air foil journal bearing produced a load capacity of 500N at an operating speed of 15,000rpm, which is compared with results of numerical analysis and empirical coefficients. Finally, the trends in change of start torque, stop torque, and bearing temperature were shown during a 10,000-cycle start-stop test of an air foil journal bearing. We found that an air foil bearing performs well, as a supported bearing for the high-speed turbocompressor.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.12a
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• pp.453-458
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• 2002

The feasibility study on supporting a turbocharger rotor on air foil bearing is investigated. Based on finite difference method and Newton-Raphson method, the static equilibrium position of a turbocharger rotor is predicted. And using finite difference method and perturbation method, dynamic characteristics of air foil bearings are calculated. Rotordynamic analysis is performed by finite element method, with collaboration of calculated stiffness and damping of foil bearing. The effect of compliance and clearance of bump foil bearing on the oil-free turbocharger is investigated in terms of rotordynamics. And the critical speeds, eccentricity ratio, vibration amplitude, and stability are considered. It is demonstrated that foil bearings offer a rlausible replacement for oil-lubricated bearings in turbocharger.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.114-121
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• 2005

As fuel cell system is environmental friendly generator, its performance depends on its air supply system. Because, fuel cell stack generates electrical energy by electron and the electron is generated by reacting between air and hydrogen. So, more and more compressed air is supplied, more and more the energy can be obtained. In this study, turbo-expander supported by air foil bearing is introduced as the air supply system used by fuel cell systems. The turbo-expander is a turbo machine which operates at high speed, so air foil bearings suit its purpose for the bearing elements. Analysis for confirming the stability and endurance is conducted. Based on FDM and Newton-Raphson method, characteristics of air foil bearing, dynamic coefficients, pressure field and load capacity, are obtained. Using the characteristics of air foil bearing, the rotordynamic analysis is performed by finite element method. The analysis (stability analysis and critical speed map) shows that turbo-expander is stability at running speed. After the analysis, the test process and results are presented. The goals of test are running up to 90,000 RPM, flow rate of 150 $m^3/h$ and pressure ratio of 1.15. The test results show that the aerodynamic performance and stability of turbo-expander are satisfied to the primary goals.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.290-296
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• 2001

Lift-off means that the rotating journal surface separates from the leaf surface in an air-lubricated multi-leaf foil journal bearing. Lift-off builds up minimum film thickness which will provide load capacity between leaves and journal. In this paper an analysis of air-lubricated multi-leaf foil journal bearing was performed with effects of multi-leaf foil deflection and compressible lubrication equation simultaneously. Minimum film thickness built up versus journal speed predicts the lift off characteristics and these results will be useful in designing and selecting the proper speed of the air-lubricated multi-leaf foil journal bearing.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.177-185
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• 2000

The characteristics of multi-leaf feil bearing are investigated. The Foil bearing is preloaded and has several leaf foils modeled by curved beams. An analysis of the air foil bearing was performed, considering effects of foil deflection and compressible lubrication equation simultaneously. A parametric study shows that the number of foils significantly affect the static characteristics of air foil bearings and describes what the minimum film thickness means. The results include pressure profile, load capacity, dimensionless torque and minimum film thickness in the foil bearing.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.292-297
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• 2009

Air foil thrust bearings are the critical components available on high-efficiency turbomachinery which need an ability to endure the large axial force. Air foil bearings are self-acting hydrodynamic bearings that use ambient air as their lubricant. Since the air is squeezed by the edge of compliance-surface of bearing, hydrodynamic force is generated. In this study, we measured the air film thickness and obtained the minimum film thickness experimentally. To increase the maximum load capacity, compliance of sub-structure was controlled. From numerical analyses, it is seen that, if the air film thickness is distributed more uniformly by variable compliance, the thrust bearings can take more axial load.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.6 no.1 s.18
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• pp.51-56
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• 2003

The feasibility study on the oil-free turbocharger supported by air foil bearings is investigated. Using the perturbation method, dynamic characteristics of air foil bearings are calculated based on the static equilibrium position of a turbocharger rotor is predicted. With collaboration of calculated stiffness and damping of foil bearing, rotordynamic analysis is performed using the finite element method. The effects of bump compliance and bearing clearance on rotordynamic characteristics of the oil-free turbocharger such as the critical speeds, eccentricity ratio, vibration amplitude and stability are investigated.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.117-124
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• 2021

In this study, we perform a 3D CFD conjugate analysis according to the shape of the foil ramp of the air foil thrust bearing, analyze the flow characteristics inside the bearing, and compare the results corresponding to the two shapes. Air has a lower viscosity than lubricating oil. Therefore, the thrust runner of the bearing must rotate at high speed to support the load. The gap between thrust runner and foil is significantly smaller than that of the oil bearing. Hence, it is crucial to analyze the complex flow characteristics inside the bearing to predict the complex flow inside the bearing and performance of the bearing. In addition, flow characteristics may appear differently depending on the ramp shape of the bearing foil, which may affect bearing performance. In this study, we numerically analyze the main flow path of air flowing into the bearing and the secondary flow path used for cooling the bearing using the commercial CFD software ANSYS CFX and compare the flow characteristics for straight and curved foil ramp shapes. Notably, there is a difference in the speed of the flowing air according to the shape of the ramp, which affects the bearing performance.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2024

This study analyzes the thermal effects on the performance of an air foil thrust bearing (AFTB) using COMSOL Multiphysics to approximate actual bearing behavior under real conditions. An AFTB is a sliding-thrust bearing that uses air as a lubricant to support the axial load. The AFTB consists of top and bump foils and supports the rotating disk through the hydrodynamic pressure generated by the wedge effect from the inclined surface of the top foil and the elastic deformation of the bump foils, similar to a spring. The use of air as a lubricant has some advantages such as low friction loss and less heat generation, enabling air bearings to be widely used in high-speed rotating systems. However, even in AFTB, the effects of energy loss due to viscosity at high speeds, interface frictional heat, and thermal deformation of the foil caused by temperature increase cannot be ignored. Foil deformation derived from the thermal effect influences the minimum decay in film thickness and enhances the film pressure. For these reasons, performance analyses of isothermal AFTBs have shown few discrepancies with real bearing behavior. To account for this phenomenon, a thermal-fluid-structure analysis is conducted to describe the combined mechanics. Results show that the load capacity under the thermal effect is slightly higher than that obtained from isothermal analysis. In addition, the push and pull effects on the top foil and bump foil-free edges can be simulated. The differences between the isothermal and thermal behaviors are discussed.