• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.5 no.3 s.16
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• pp.7-14
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• 2002

A new foil bearing, ViscoElastic Foil Bearing(VEFB) is suggested with the need for a high damping foil bearing. Sufficient damping capacity is a key technical hurdle to super-bending-critical operation as well as widespread use of foil bearings into turbomachinery. The super-bending-critical operation of the conventional bump foil bearing and the VEFB is examined, as well as the structural dynamic characteristics. The structural dynamic test results show that the equivalent viscous damping of the VEFB is much larger than that of the bump bearing, and that the structural dynamic stiffness of the VEFB is comparable or larger than that of the bump bearing. The results of super-bending-critical operation of the VEFB indicate that the enhanced structural damping of the viscoelastic foil dramatically reduces the vibration near the bending critical speed. With the help of increased damping resulting from the viscoelasticity, the suppression of the asynchronous orbit is possible beyond the bending critical speed.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 2002

Experiments were conducted to determine the structural dynamic characteristics of bump foil bearing. The housing of the bearing on the journal was driven by two shakers which were used to simulate dynamic forces acting on the bump foil strips. Three different bump foils(Cu-coated bump, silicon bump, viscoelastic bump) are tested and the dynamic coefficients of three bump foils compared, based on the experimental measurements for a wide range of operating conditions. From the test results, the high damping coefficients of viscoelastic bump are achieved and the possibility of the super-bending-critical operation is suggested.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2017

This paper presents a rotordynamic analysis and the operation of a power turbine applied to a 250 kW super-critical $CO_2$ cycle. The power turbine consists of a turbine wheel and a shaft supported by two fluid film bearings. We use a tilting pad bearing for the power turbine owing to the high speed operation, and employ copper backing pads to improve the thermal management of the bearing. We conduct a rotordynamic analysis based on the design parameters of the power turbine. The dynamic coefficients of the tilting pad bearings were calculated based on the iso-thermal lubrication theory and turbine wheel was modeled as equivalent inertia. The predicted Cambell diagram showed that there are two critical speeds, namely the conical and bending critical speeds under the rated speed. However, the unbalance response prediction showed that vibration levels are controlled within 10 mm for all speed ranges owing to the high damping ratio of the modes. Additionally, the predicted logarithmic decrement indicates that there is no unstable mode. The power turbine uses compressed air at a temperature of $250^{\circ}C$ in its operation, and we monitor the shaft vibration and temperature of the lubricant during the test. In the steady state, we record a temperature rise of $40^{\circ}C$ between the inlet and outlet lubricant and the measured shaft vibration shows good agreement with the prediction.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.107-112
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• 2016

This paper presents a rotordynamic analysis of the reduction gear system applied to the 250 kW super critical CO₂ cycle. The reduction gear system consists of an input shaft, intermediate shaft, and output shaft. Because of the high rotating speed of the input shaft, we install tilting pad bearings, rolloer bearings support the intermediate and output shafts. To predict the tilting pad bearing performance, we calculate the applied loads to the tilting pad bearings by considering the reaction forces from the gear. In the rotordynamic analysis, gear mesh stiffness results in a coupling effect between the lateral and torsional vibrations. The predicted Campbell diagram shows that there is not a critical speed lower than the rated speed of 30,000 rpm of the input shaft. The predicted modes on the critical speeds are the combined bending modes of the intermediate and output shaft, and the lateral vibrations dominate when compared to the torsional vibrations. The damped natural frequency does not strongly depend on the rotating speeds, owing to the relatively low rotating speed of the intermediate and output shaft and constant stiffness of the roller bearing. In addition, the logarithmic decrements of all the modes are positive; therefore all modes are stable.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.521-527
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• 2001

The dynamic performance analyses and tests for a 50kW turbo-generator (KIMM-TG50) were carried out. The operating concept of this machine is that it gets the initial driving force from the built-in motor-generator until it reaches its self-sustaining speed of 40,000 rpm, and then the driving mode is changed to self-operating mode by the combustor installed between the centrifugal compressor and the turbine. Due to winding mistake of motor-generator, the system could go only up to 22000 rpm by the motor so that high pressure air externally fed into the turbine was utilized to get the system to run up to 62,000 rpm thereafter. The vibration data collected during the tests revealed that the first bending critical speed is in near 5,600 rpm as predicted in the design stage of the rotor-bearing system, and that there were no other identifiable critical speeds up until 62,000 rpm due to high damping from the squeeze film damper-bearings supporting the rotor. This paper presented some of the experimental results along with dynamic performance predictions made in the design stage as a part of progress being made.