Static characteristics of six pads multilayer protuberant foil thrust bearings

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J:

Hou

Zhao

et al. 2021

Self Cite

Foil bearing is considered to be a promising supporting technology in high-speed centrifugal machinery. Due to the high-speed shearing effect in the viscous lubricant film, heat generation could not be ignored. In this paper, a thermo-elastic model of the multi-leaf foil thrust bearing is proposed to predict its thermal and static characteristics. In the model, modified Reynolds equation, energy equation, and Kirchhoff equation are solved in a coupling way. The contact area between the foil and welding plate is taken into account. Besides, the effect of cooling air on the bearing temperature is investigated. The ultimate load capacity and transient overload failure process of the bearing is analyzed and discussed. The effect of rotation speed on the bearing temperature is more obvious than that of the bearing load. The bearing temperature drops obviously by introducing the cooling air, and the cooling effect is improved with the supply pressure. The transient overload failure of the bearing occurs when the bearing load exceeds the ultimate value.

Section: Test Rigmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical and experimental studies on the thermal and static characteristics of multi-leaf foil thrust bearing

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J:

Hou

Zhao

et al. 2021

Self Cite

“…Comparative analysis between two bearings with different protuberances distribution is conducted to analyze the effect of protuberances distribution on bearing performance intuitively. The double-decked protuberant foil thrust bearing that has been tested is named as pre-optimized bearing (Zheng, 2017), and the foil thrust bearing that achieves maximal bearing load in the numerical calculation is named as optimized bearing. Structural parameters of the pre-optimized and optimized bearing are listed in Tab.2.…”

Section: Comparison Of Parameters Of Pre-optimized and Optimized Bearingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical analysis of aerodynamic lubricated double-decked protuberant foil thrust bearing

Hou

Wang

et al. 2019

JAMDSM

Self Cite

Double-decked protuberant foil bearing is a type of foil bearing that uses two stacking-up layers of protuberant foils as supporting structure. In preliminary experiments, wear failure of foil thrust bearing occurs occasionally due to excessive axial load in the bearing. Further improvement of the bearing performance is necessary for its better engineering application. In this paper, a numerical model of this kind of foil bearing is applied to predict its static characteristics. Reynolds equation and Kirchhoff equation are coupled via successive iterations of film pressure and foil deformation. A parametric study is conducted to improve the static characteristics of the bearing, which is conducive to load capacity improvement. The load capacity of the bearing is represented by the bearing load with the given nominal film clearance. Due to point and surface contact between the foils, distribution of protuberances plays an important role in the stiffness distribution of the protuberant foil thrust bearing. Effect of radial location of protuberances on bearing load is analyzed. Furthermore, parametric studies with different foil thickness and diameter are conducted for further optimization. The results indicate that large unevenness of stiffness distribution will deteriorate its static characteristics. Through adjustment of the radial locations of protuberances, static performance of the double-decked protuberant foil thrust bearing can be improved prominently under different operating conditions.

“…The deflection of the thrust bearing with static load is shown in Figure 8. Detailed testing method can refer to [33]. Unlike the protuberant foil journal bearing, the hysteresis loop of the deflection of the thrust bearing is smaller.…”

Section: Bearing Configurationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By virtue of the transient performances of the protuberant foil journal and thrust bearings [27][28][29][30], they are considered to be alternative candidates for the rotor-bearing system. In this paper, both the aerostatic journal and thrust bearings are replaced by protuberant foil bearings based on the previous configuration of the rotor-bearing system.…”

Section: Bearing Configurationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Development and Application of Integrated Aerodynamic Protuberant Foil Journal and Thrust Bearing in Turboexpander

Lai

International Journal of Rotating Machinery

Wang

et al. 2017

Self Cite

Foil bearing provides compliant support and moderate Coulomb friction for rotor-bearing system, which is conducive to stability and reliability of high speed rotating machinery. In this paper, both hydrodynamic lubricated foil journal and foil thrust bearings are applied in a 150 m 3 ⋅h −1 turboexpander for air separation. In the bearings, protuberant foil is chosen as the supporting subfoil due to its merits of easy fabrication and assembly. Static loading and deflection of the bearings are tested, respectively, before integration into the turboexpander. Afterwards, the loading and deflection curves of the journal and thrust bearings are polynomial fitted using least-square method. Then, performance tests are carried out on the rotor-bearing system, including transient speed-up, high speed, and speed-down processes. In the tests, the turboexpander supported by the hydrodynamic foil bearings operates smoothly with repeatability. Maximal rotor speed of the turboexpander reaches 52000 rpm with hydrodynamic lubricated protuberant foil bearings.