Experimental and Numerical Studies of Cavitation Effects in a Tapered Land Thrust Bearing

Abstract

In thrust bearings, cavitation may occur at high rotational speeds or low lubricant supply pressures, and it will influence the bearing performances. In this paper, a hydrodynamic tapered land thrust bearing has been studied both experimentally and numerically, with concentration on the cavitation phenomenon and its effects on the bearing performances. Evident cavitation regions have been observed in the experiments at higher rotational speeds. Traditional Reynolds equation and 3D Navier–Stokes equation (3D NSE) with a cavitation model have been used for numerical simulation, and the predicted results are examined against the experimental results. Compared with Reynolds equation, 3D NSE with Rayleigh–Plesset model provides better predictions of both oil–film pressure profile and cavitation area. Furthermore, the effects of the cavitation phenomenon on the thrust bearing performances are studied by parametric studies involving various rotational speeds and oil feeding pressures, using 3D NSE. It is found that the load capacity decreases at higher speeds because of enlargement of the cavitation area. And the negative effects of cavitation can be reduced at smaller film thickness and higher oil supply pressure. Conclusively, the above results show that the cavitation phenomenon has significant influences on the bearing performances at higher speeds, and 3D NSE provides an effective tool for analyzing the cavitation effects in thrust bearings.

Numerical investigation of subsynchronous vibration in floating ring bearings

“…where p sur ¼ 101, 325 Pa, T sur ¼ 40 C. The validation of this cavitation model has been checked in papers. [34][35][36] This cavitation model can be inserted into the CFX software by CFX Command Language (CCL) expressions.…”

Numerical Investigation of the Leakage and Rotordynamic Characteristic for a Short Staggered Labyrinth Seal

“…(7) and separating the right-side array into real and imaginary parts, as defined in Eqs. (8)- (11).…”

“…Recently computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has obtained great development such as the schemes [3][4][5], large eddy simulation [6,7] and detached eddy simulation [8,9], and the capability of CFD has been shown for simulation flows of small clearances such as bearings [10,11] and seals [12][13][14]. Therefore, CFD programs and software are now gradually displacing the bulk-flow approach in predicting the rotordynamic coefficients of annular gas seals.…”

Numerical investigation of V-shaped riblets and an improved model of riblet effects

“…The theory and prediction of wall friction and boundary layer are important for many engineering flows. [1][2][3] Various drag-reducing solutions currently aim at resource conservation and environmental protection. The bionic riblet of the drag-reduction technique 4 is one of these solutions with a significant effect.…”