The gas turbine endwall is bearing extreme thermal loads with the rapid increase of turbine inlet temperature. Therefore, the effective cooling of turbine endwalls is of vital importance for the safe operation of turbines. In the design of endwall cooling layouts, numerical simulations based on conjugate heat transfer (CHT) are drawing more attention as the component temperature can be predicted directly. However, the computation cost of high-fidelity CHT analysis can be high and even prohibitive especially when there are many cases to evaluate such as in the design optimization of cooling layout. In this study, we established a multi-fidelity framework in which the data of low-fidelity CHT analysis was incorporated to help the building of a model that predicts the result of high-fidelity simulation. Based upon this framework, multi-fidelity design optimization of a validated numerical turbine endwall model was carried out. The high and low fidelity data were obtained from the computation of fine mesh and coarse mesh respectively. In the optimization, the positions of the film cooling holes were parameterized and controlled by a shape function. With the help of multi-fidelity modeling and sequentially evaluated designs, the cooling performance of the model endwall was improved efficiently.

The clearance that exists between the casing and turbine blade tips is one of the key drivers of efficiency in gas turbine engines. For this reason, engine manufacturers utilize precise manufacturing techniques and may employ clearance control systems to minimize tip clearances to reduce associated losses. Despite these efforts, turbines typically exhibit some nominal casing ovality or rotor-casing eccentricity, and changes to blade tip clearance during operation commonly occur due to thermal and mechanical stresses. The present study investigates non-axisymmetric tip clearance effects by creating a rotor-casing eccentricity in a one-stage axial test turbine operating in a continuous-duration mode at engine relevant conditions with engine representative hardware. A magnetic levitation bearing system was leveraged to move the turbine shaft to vary the rotor-casing eccentricity without test section disassembly. The results of this study indicate that rotor-casing eccentricity does not affect overall turbine efficiency over the range that was tested, but does locally influence efficiency and the rotor exit flow field. Comparisons of flow angle and secondary flow kinetic energy agreed with previous studies and existing analytical methods, respectively. Collectively, these results indicate that tip clearance can be studied locally on an eccentric rotor.

Turbine Vane Frames (TVF) are a way to realize more compact jet engine designs. Located between the high pressure turbine (HPT) and the low pressure turbine (LPT), they fulfill structural and aerodynamic tasks. When used as an integrated concept with splitters located between the structural load-bearing vanes, the TVF configuration contains more than one type of airfoil with sometimes pronouncedly different properties. This system of multidisciplinary demands and mixed blading poses an interesting opportunity for optimization. Within the scope of the present work, a full geometric parameterization of a TVF with splitters is presented. The parameterization is chosen as to minimize the number of parameters required to automatically and flexibly represent all blade types involved in a TVF row in all three dimensions. Typical blade design parameters are linked to the fourth order Bézier-curve controlled camber line-thickness parameterization. Based on conventional design rules, a procedure is presented, which sets the parameters within their permissible ranges according to the imposed constraints, using a proprietary developed code. The presented workflow relies on subsequent three dimensional geometry generation by transfer of the proposed parameter set to a commercially available CAD package. The interdependencies of parameters are discussed and their respective significance for the adjustment process is detailed. Furthermore, the capability of the chosen parameterization and adjustment process to rebuild an exemplary reference TVF geometry is demonstrated. The results are verified by comparing not only geometrical profile data, but also validated CFD simulation results between the rebuilt and original geometries. Measures taken to ensure the robustness of the method are highlighted and evaluated by exploring extremes in the permissible design space. Finally, the embedding of the proposed method within the framework of an automated, gradient free numerical optimization is discussed. Herein, implications of the proposed method on response surface modeling in combination with the optimization method are highlighted. The method promises to be an option for improvement of optimization efficiency in gradient free optimization of interdependent blade geometries, by a-priori excluding unsuitable blade combinations, yet keeping restrictions to the design space as limited as possible.

A clear understanding of the heat transfer processes in a gas turbine engine bearing chamber at the design stage makes it possible to properly design the lubrication and sealing systems and ensure the future bearing safe operation. The heat transfer coefficient (HTC) calculated based on the classical Newton-Richman equation is widely used to represent the heat transfer data and useful for the thermal resistance analysis. However, this approach is only formally applicable in the case of a two-phase medium. While there is a need to model a two-phase medium, setting the flow core temperature correctly in the Newton-Richman equation is an issue that is analyzed in this study. The heat from the flow core is transferred to the boundary of the oil film on the bearing chamber walls by an adjacent air and precipitating droplets. The analysis showed that droplet deposition plays a decisive role in this process and significantly intensifies the heat transfer. The main contribution to the thermal resistance of internal heat transfer is provided by the oil film. In this regard, the study considers the issues of the bearing chamber workflow modeling allowing to determine the hydrodynamic parameters of the oil film taking into account air and oil flow rates and shaft revolutions. The study also considers a possibility to apply the thermohydraulic analogy methods for the oil film thermal resistance determination. The study presents practical recommendations for process modeling in the bearing chamber.

During different airplane flight modes, various effects may appear that need to be analyzed for both the oil and the fuel system at steady-state and transient operating modes. The effects, which relate to the cold temperature, associated with fuel freeze or wax point, cause a malfunction in the fuel pumps, nozzles, and other areas of the fuel system. On the other hand, high fuel temperature also leads to negative effects — the most common failure of high-flow fuel systems is cavitation, or “vapor-lock.” The combination of too much heat or too much inlet restriction can create this operating condition, where the liquid fuel literally boils inside the fuel pump. These effects are eliminated by the fuel/oil heat exchange system. In case of low fuel temperature, the fuel is used as a refrigerant to cool down hot oil coming from bearings. And in case of high fuel temperature, the oil serves as a coolant. This paper considers the method of evaluating normal and critical aircraft engine operation modes of the oil supply system with a fuel-oil heat exchanger utilizing an unsteady-state thermal-fluid network approach. The analyses are done based on the aircraft engine example to evaluate fuel and oil systems parameters variation in time under different flight conditions — the amount of fuel in the tank, inertial thermal effects, and the response time of the system to the regulation of the heat exchanger. The article is focused on sudden switching from a high to low gas engine operating mode. Fuel consumption to the engine is reduced abruptly, but the heat transfer from the bearings to the oil is still high due to thermal inertia. In this situation, a large amount of heated fuel must be returned to the fuel tank. At a certain point in time, the temperature of the fuel can reach a critical value. At the same time bearing cooling becomes ineffective, which leads to overheating. The calculation of thermal management system was performed at nominal conditions to obtain the initial data for low power settings analysis. As results of analysis at the low power settings mode the oil temperature before fuel cooled oil cooler is reached above 138 °C, which is high value. The failure of flow return valve is considered. The variations of oil temperature after the tank and increasing of fuel temperature at the tank in case of emergency situation are obtained. The influence of cooled fuel amount on the system thermal management is analyzed.

As a renewable, unlimited and free resource, wind energy has been intensively deployed in the past to generate electricity. However, the maintenance of Wind Turbines (WTs) can be challengeable. On the one hand, most wind farms operate in remote areas and on the other hand, the dimension of WTs’ tip/hub/rotor are usually enormous. In order to prevent abrupt breakdowns of WTs, a number of Condition Monitoring (CM) methods have been proposed. Focusing on bearing diagnostics, Squared Envelope Spectrum is one of the most common techniques. Moreover in order to identify the optimum demodulation frequency band, fast Kurtogram, Infogram and Sparsogram are nowadays popular tools evaluating respectively the Kurtosis, the Negentropy and the Sparsity. The analysis of WTs usually requires high effort due to the complexity of the drivetrain and the varying operating conditions and therefore there is still need for research on effective and reliable CM techniques for WT monitoring. Thus the purpose of this paper is to investigate a blind and effective CM approach based on the Scattering Transform. Through the comparison with state of the art techniques, the proposed methodology is found more powerful to detect a fault on six validated WT datasets.

Accurate evaluation of the rotor stability is important for increasing the performance of the Steam Turbines. This paper discusses the important factors (such as destabilization force, bearing coefficient) for the evaluation of rotor stability. The destabilization force which varies with the type of seal suggests that seal shape plays an important role. In the past, several researchers have studied the fluid destabilization force both numerically and experimentally and prediction of the same can be done fairly accurately by applying CFD techniques. The characteristics of the fluid destabilization force can be accurately evaluated by investigating the sensitivity of parameters such as clearance and swirl velocity for each seal type using CFD. In the case of partial admission operation in which the bearing load changes (such as control stage of steam turbines), the frequency ratio effect on bearing coefficients is higher in the case of light-load (Sommerfeld number is large) than in the case of high-load (Sommerfeld number is small). In order to estimate the frequency ratio effects due to varying load accurately, an experimental study and analytical study were carried out. As a result of comparison of the test results to analytical results, the test results are in good agreement with thermo-elastic-hydrodynamic-lubrication (TEHL) analysis which considers deformation of pad obtained by 3D-FEM. The evaluation of rotor stability at each bearing load by partial admission (example: Governing Valve test) is in agreement with the field data of steam turbine. For new designs and modification designs, this assessment considering the characteristics of each parameter is effective for improving the quality of rotor design.

This paper describes the design and development of an innovative 280 kW and a 125 kW Turboexpander Generator (TEG) for natural gas pressure letdown (PLD) applications. The flange-to-flange TEG is supported by active magnetic bearings (AMB) and uses an advanced thrust balancing scheme to minimize the net load on the thrust bearing. The machine designs for the two TEG frame sizes are very similar to maintain commonality between parts. A review of the high-speed generator (HSG) and AMB design is provided. A complete AMB closed-loop dynamics study is presented, including a comprehensive rotordynamics and controls analysis. The touchdown bearing design is shown and discussed, and design details of the touchdown bearing resilient mount are presented. The touchdown bearings are given resilience with a tolerance ring. A detailed simulation of a rotor touchdown event at full speed is shown. The magnetic bearing controller (MBC) and variable speed drive (VSD) are located approximately 35 m from the TEG, exposed to the outside environment, and are not required to be explosion-proof. The prototype TEGs are intended to be manufactured and tested in Q1 2021. They will be commissioned, and field tested in Q2 2021. A follow-up paper detailing the mechanical testing and field testing of the units will follow in 2022.

Rolling-element bearings (REB) can develop severe damage due to skidding (slipping) between the rolling elements and bearing races. Skidding can be described as gross sliding between the bearing surfaces in relative motion and can result in significant surface distress such as smearing, especially at light loads and high rotational speeds. Under these conditions, skidding occurs between the rolling elements and the bearing races, leading to increased wear (higher friction coefficient), elevated bearing temperature, significant power losses and reduced service life of the bearing. The main objective of this study is to investigate the significance of various sensing technologies (induction, vibration, ultrasound, acoustic and optical) in detecting skidding in standard series roller bearings as well as custom-made roller bearings for aero engine applications. The bearings have a bore diameter of 60 mm and 90 mm, respectively. Jet and under race lubrication techniques have been used to supply oil to the bearings under test. The custom-made aero engine test bearing features special channels to allow under race lubrication of the rollers/races contacts as well as the cage land. The effect of radial load, rotational speed and oil flow on roller skidding have also been investigated and analyzed. Tests have been performed on a dedicated high speed experimental bearing facility and data was recorded using a commercially-available data acquisition system.

Critical Reynolds number is a dimensionless parameter defining a transition between laminar and turbulent flow that can only be experimentally determined. As machine design pushes towards higher efficiencies, individual components such as bearings operate at higher speeds and loads. Proper modeling of bearing elements, especially at higher speeds requires accurate turbulence modeling. This paper presents the first critical Reynolds number for a Thrust Collar (TC). A high-speed camera observes the oil flow of a TC through a specially designed transparent window. The optical results show a consistent area in the entrance region of the flow field that increase in overall area with increasing spin speed, and decreasing axial load. The areas of turbulence correspond to a critical Reynolds number between 300 and 500. Additionally, the experimental results show that increasing the inlet velocity of the oil initially increases the turbulent area, until the speed of the oil surpasses the surface speed of the TC, at which point the turbulence disappears. Finally, the paper also presents a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) turbulence model based on the k - ϵ equations. The model investigates the possible cause of the turbulence, and also matches the experimental results well. The CFD model predicts a slight increase in load capacity and power loss (< 1%) that could become more significant for larger spin speeds and axial loads.

Non-contacting annular damper seals, such as hole-pattern seals are gradually used in the multiple-stage centrifugal pumps, as a replacement of the conventional labyrinth seal to reduce the fluid leakage and stabilize the rotor-bearing system.The hole-pattern seal (HPS) possesses numerous radial hole cavities on the seal stator, and the geometric constructions of the hole cavity (such as the hole depth and diameter) have been demonstrated to have significant influences on the leakage and rotordynamic characteristic for hole-pattern seals. Due to the inevitable manufacturing variability, particulate impurity deposition and abrasion during operation, these hole cavities can be non-radial, which may affect the performance of the hole-pattern seal. However, the effects of the non-radical hole cavities on the performance of the hole-pattern seal are still unknown due to the lack of numerical or experimental research. Thus, in this paper, two types of novel hole-pattern seals possessing circumferentially- or axially-oblique hole cavities (C-HPS, A-HPS) with various oblique angles were designed and assessed to better understand the influences of the non-radial hole cavities. To assess the leakage and rotordynamic characteristics of the novel liquid hole-pattern seals, a proposed 3D transient CFD-based perturbation method was utilized for the predictions of seal rotordynamic forces coefficients, based on the multi-frequency one-dimensional rotor whirling model and mesh deformation technique. The accuracy and reliability of the present steady and transient numerical methods were demonstrated based on published experimental data of leakage and rotordynamic force coefficients for an experimental hole-pattern seal with radial hole cavities. The leakage and rotordynamic force coefficients were presented for the novel hole-pattern seals with various circumferentially-oblique angle ( α = −30°∼30°) or axially-oblique angle ( β = −30°∼30°) at various rotational speeds ( n = 0.05, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 krpm ), and compared with the ideal hole-pattern seal with radial hole cavities. Numerical results show that the non-radial hole cavity can result in a modest deviation (∼10%) from the design value for the seal leakage, and the oblique direction is crucial for the sealing performance. The flow field in hole cavities and the pressure distribution in the seal clearance suggest that the oblique hole cavities with positive α or β can strengthen the vortex-dissipation of kinetic energy in the hole cavities, thus reduce the leakage (about 5% ∼ 10%). The non-radial cavity with a positive oblique angle results in a modest increase (∼15% for the circumferentially-oblique angle α = 30°, ∼ 6% for the axially-oblique angle β = 30°) in the effective stiffness of the hole-pattern seal, but shows very weak influence (< 4.0%) on the effective damping of the hole-pattern seals, especially for the circumferentially-oblique hole. Therefore, in view of the inevitable manufacturing variability and abrasion effects, a designed non-radial hole with suitable positive α or β (10°∼20°) is beneficial to be applied to new designs in early design phases for the robust design of hole-pattern seals.

A circular arc spring damper (CASD) is a recently proposed fluid-film damper that has two or more arc-shaped centering springs and dual radial clearances formed by wire electric discharge machining. CASD requires less space and weight than a conventional cage-centered squeeze film damper (SFD). It provides linear stiffness and stable damping force in rotor-bearing systems to attenuate vibration due to imbalance or to improve rotordynamic stability. The authors have been investigated the dynamic characteristics of CASD in component-level experiments. However, their performance and applicability to real machines have not been confirmed in system-level experiments. Additionally, a theoretical means of evaluation for CASD should be established to predict its dynamic coefficients, and to understand the mechanism of dynamic force generation. In the first part of this study, a numerical evaluation method using two-way fluid-structure interaction analysis and its theoretical background is presented. Transient structural analysis and fluid-film flow analysis with a simple homogeneous cavitation model are coupled in the commercial multi-physics platform ANSYS. The accuracy of the method was validated by comparing the damping and added-mass coefficients with results from previous experiments. Furthermore, several aspects of the force generation mechanism, and the difference from conventional SFD were studied numerically. The second part of the study addresses the application of CASD in a multi-stage centrifugal compressor. A combined 4-inch diameter, 5-Pad tilting pad journal bearing (TPJB) with 4-arc type CASD was newly designed and manufactured. To prove the applicability of the developed damper bearing, a series of rotating tests was conducted at a high-speed balancing facility with a full-scale dummy rotor with a critical speed ratio of approximately 3.1. The measured unbalance response showed a much lower amplification factor than that of the conventional TPJB without the damper, which infers a significant improvement in the stability. The measured responses agreed with the rotordynamic analysis, which uses the dynamic coefficients of CASD derived from the proposed numerical evaluation method.

In this work, a computational fluid-film bearing analysis model has been utilized in order to investigate the conjugate heat transfer problem for a tapered-land bearing using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. The academic model is based on the 2D Reynolds equation for the pressure distribution in the film the 3D energy equation is solved for the the bearing pad and the fluid film; therefore, the lubricant properties such as viscosity and density could be made temperature-dependent. The runner is modeled using a 2D axisymmetric mesh. The current analysis excludes the mechanical or thermal deformations of the bearing and the runner since it was observed that the results for output quantities such as film temperature, film pressure, torque and load capacity were within reasonable agreement with the benchmark data obtained from the experiments for the majority of the speed and load cases studied. Comparisons of modeling results against the benchmark data was obtained for cases ranging from 2000 rpm to 10,000 rpm at loads varying from 1000 N to 8000 N. The importance of proper boundary conditions used in the heat transfer model is emphasized as well as the coupling of heat transfer between the film and the solid surfaces of collar and the bearing is described. The results obtained here yielded that a thermohydrodynamic (THD) model that includes the energy transfer into the structures surrounding the fluid film is sufficient enough to predict the performance of a tapered-land bearing at a wide speed and load range in the case where the runner is thick enough that the effect of deformations on the results can be ignored.

Operation of tilting pad journal bearings (TPJBs) with a reduced flow decreases pumping costs and oil sump storage. A low supplied oil flow improves system energy efficiency by reducing drag power losses, albeit the temperature rise in both the bearing pads and the lubricating oil become a concern. This paper presents measurements of the static and dynamic load performance of a flooded ends TPJB lubricated with an ISO VG 46 oil supplied at 60 °C, and with flowrate ranging from 150% to just ∼5% of a nominal supply condition. The flow range covers both over-flooded and starved flow conditions. The test bearing is a four-pad, 102 mm diameter, center pivot, with single orifice feeds, and configured with end seals to flood the bearing housing. The experiments include operation at two shaft speeds = 6 krpm and 12 krpm (= 64 m/s surface speed) and under three specific loads = 0.345 MPa, 1.03 MPa and 2.07 MPa applied in between pads (LBP). The measurements show the bearing drag power loss decreases by nearly 20% when the flow rate drops to 50% of nominal. However, halving the flow produces a raise in pad subsurface temperatures, ∼7 °C for operation at 12 krpm. Flow reduction below 50% does result in even more substantial power savings; however, it also produces too hot pad temperatures that approach 130 °C, a known limit for Babbitt material safe operation. The bearing static eccentricity ( e ) and direct stiffnesses K xx < K yy (load direction) do not show a significant dependency on the supplied flow, either above or below the nominal condition. A minor stiffness hardening does occur for very low flow conditions, 5% or so of nominal. Damping coefficients ( C xx ∼ C yy ) decrease by ∼30% as the flow rate decreases from 150% to just a few % of nominal flow. The experimental results are first to quantify operation of a TPJB supplied with minute amounts of lubricant flow. A test with a very low flow rate at ∼2% of nominal and under a light load produced the emergence of a broadband subsynchronous vibration frequency, albeit with very small amplitude.

High temperature operation limits the life of fluid film bearings; hence the need to quantify the effect of pad material on the performance of tilting pad journal bearings (TPJBs). The paper presents measurements of performance conducted on a copper-pads bearing (C-PB) and a steel-pads bearing (S-PB). Both bearings have the same geometry and differ on the pads’ backing material, copper vs. steel, and slightly in the assembled cold clearance. The journal diameter D = 102 mm, and a bearing has five pads with length L = 0.4 D , nominal radial clearance 0.064 mm, and pad preload of 0.42. The pads are 12.3 mm in thickness and have a 50% offset pivot, ball-in-socket type. The bearings operate at four shaft speeds ranging from 6 krpm (32 m/s surface speed) to 14 krpm (74 m/s) and under multiple specific loads ranging from 0.17 MPa to 2.1 MPa. ISO VG 32 oil, at a supply temperature of 49 °C, lubricates a test bearing configured with end seals (flooded bearing). At the highest load (on pad) and low shaft speed, the S-PB static eccentricity is up to 37% higher than that for the C-PB. The oil exit temperature rise is similar for both bearings, the maximum difference reaches 6 °C. For all operating conditions, the pads’ peak temperature rise, having a maximum difference of 5 °C to 16 °C, is larger for the S-PB. The S-PB produces a ∼ 5% lower drag power loss than that in the C-PB. Drag power in both bearings increases with shaft speed and is largely independent of applied load. From dynamic load tests with multiple excitation frequencies to 250 Hz, the C-PB direct stiffness K YY (along the load direction) is up to 30% higher than the S-PB stiffness, while the difference in K XX between the C-PB and the S-PB ranges from 60% to 90%. Similar to the stiffness results, the C-PB produces larger direct damping coefficients; C YY and C XX are up to 25% and 40% larger than those for the S-PB. Both bearings, however, show symmetry in the damping coefficients, i.e., C XX ∼ C YY . Virtual mass coefficients ( M XX , M YY ) are significant in magnitude though having a large uncertainty. A computational physics model predicts the TPJB performance under identical conditions. The exhaustive comparison conducted with a sound dimensional characterization of parameters reveals that predictions agree well with measurements of journal eccentricity, oil exit temperature, pad surface temperatures, and stiffness and damping force coefficients. The differences amount to 20% or less. The model relies on specifying the material properties for pads and pivots and the operating (hot) clearance to produce accurate thermo-mechanically induced deformations that affect bearing performance at high loads and high surface speed operation.

Turbomachines with large & heavy rotors have journal bearings that utilize thin hydrodynamic oil film to maintain a gap between the shaft & bearings. They are fed with a continuous supply of lube oil at a high rate to maintain the oil film and remove the heat generated. The shaft imparts high rotational velocities to the oil as it passes through the bearing. Due to high kinetic energy of oil leaving the bearing, gravity drained bearing housings generally have a big sump near the bottom dead center to collect and reduce the kinetic energy of the oil. This facilitates smooth drain of oil back to the oil tank. The use of gravity to facilitate the draining results in a simple and cost-effective bearing system. The size of sump is determined by the oil flow rate in the bearing housing which itself is a function of rotor load, speed & temperature. In absence of this oil sump (in applications where there is little or no room for a large bearing housing) the swirling oil in the bearing housing doesn’t get enough time to slow down. The rapidly swirling oil therefore fails to drain into the drainpipe(s), and eventually floods the housing and leaks out through the shaft seals. The failure to drain can be attributed to multiple reasons like air pressure fluctuation, oil vortex formation, oil frothing, etc. This paper focusses on the design of a journal bearing for gas turbines without an oil sump due to design space restrictions. The flow fields in the bearing are chaotic and difficult to analytically predict without experimental validation. Therefore, a bearing rig was constructed, and multiple tests were conducted to understand the flow characteristics inside the bearing housing. Based on the understanding of the flow characteristics, design modifications were made and validated to enable the design of a sumpless gravity drained bearing housing. This paper discusses the methodology and findings from these rig tests which led to the design solutions that solved the issue of draining the high energy oil back to the oil tank without the need of having a traditional oil sump.

The process of improving gas turbine engines is associated with increased thermodynamic parameters and rotor speed. In advanced aircraft engines the main rotor bearings will operate at speed index d m n > 3 · 10 6 mm · rpm, where d m is the bearing pitch diameter (mm), and n is the rotational speed (rpm). Under these conditions, significant heat is generated in the bearings, and the use of hybrid rolling bearings with steel rings and ceramic rolling elements looks more attractive due to the ceramic’s low density and low coefficient of thermal expansion. A computational method for predicting the thermal state of rolling bearings operating at high speed parameters has been developed based on comparative tests of steel and hybrid rolling bearings. Knowing the thermal state of the bearing allows the value of the operating clearance to be set in the bearing, which is important for determining the contact angle and load distribution over the rolling elements. A comparison with the results from tests of hybrid and steel bearings presented in the previous literature has shown that the calculated values correspond to the experimental data. Criteria for selecting steel or hybrid bearings are proposed, and areas of rational use for hybrid rolling bearings in aircraft engines are determined.

As gas bearings have gained popularity, they have been used in a diverse range of applications. In many cases these bearings are used in various process gases at a range of pressures. Although numerous analytical tools exist to predict the behavior of gas bearings in these environments, these tools are challenging to validate. The current work describes a test loop that is capable of measuring rotordynamic force coefficients in a hermetically sealed environment. To the author’s knowledge, this capability is the first of its kind. To illustrate operation of the test rig, an industrial 3-lobe gas-foil bearing was installed in the test fixture, and operated at pressures from .5–3.5 bara at speeds ranging from 25–65 krpm. The tests show that dynamic coefficients increase with speed and pressure; however, a slight reduction in coefficients were observed at the highest speed under ambient conditions. In addition, sub ambient pressure tests showed higher than ambient stiffness, but comparably low damping in comparison to the other test cases. It is believed that this is the first publication of gas foil bearing coefficients at sub-ambient pressure.

Structural layout scheme of dual rotor system with inter-shaft bearing plays an important role in reducing the bearing frame and structure weight of areo-engine. This kind of scheme is often used in the design of high thrust-weight ratio turbofan engine. However, the inter-shaft bearing will cause the direct interaction of the force and displacement between the high and low pressure rotor systems, contributing to the coupling of the dynamic characteristics of two rotor systems. The coupling may eventually lead to the failure of the rotor displacement control, loss of the robustness of the connection structure or excessive dynamic load of the bearing. The main purpose of this paper is to, firstly study and quantitatively evaluate the coupling characteristics of the dual rotor system, secondly obtain the correlation between the structural feature parameters such as the position of the inter-shaft bearing and the coupling vibration or interactive excitation characteristics of the system, finally propose the coupling vibration control method of dual rotor system. The dynamic model of dual rotor system with inter-shaft bearing is established. The modal frequencies and modes of dual rotor system with or without coupling are analyzed and compared. The results illustrate the complexity of coupled vibration of high pressure and low pressure rotors. Then modal coupling characteristics evaluation parameter of dual rotor system based on energy distribution relationship is proposed. Using the coupling factor defined, the correlation between the inter-shaft bearing support feature and the modal coupling characteristics is discussed. The results show that, placing the inter-shaft bearing near the mass center of low pressure turbine can effectively restrain the mode coupling, meanwhile the proportion of bearing strain energy can also reflect the mode coupling characteristics of dual rotor system to a certain extent. Then a method of controlling the response coupled vibration of dual rotor system with inter-shaft bearing, based on the principle of mode superposition, is proposed. An example verifies the method can control the response coupling vibration of dual rotor system in wide speed range and under complex excitation conditions.

The current oil and gas market trends lead the compressor OEMs to increase the rotational speed and maximize the efficiency given a target power output. Especially when applied to large process gas centrifugal compressors, characterized by high-flexibility ratio, the achievement of these targets pushes the rotordynamic design towards its limit in terms of API requirements. Tiling pad journal bearings (TPJBs) are commonly adopted in high-speed applications for their inherent stability characteristics that permit to ensure the rotordynamic stability and eliminate self-induced sub-synchronous vibrations. The experimental activities subject of this paper aim to assess, for the first time, the rotordynamic behaviour of a large dummy rotor (6 meter long and total weight of 8 tons) equipped with Flexure Pivot tilting-pad journal bearing and Integral squeeze film damper (ISFD). This system level testing program has been performed in the Authors’ high-speed balancing bunker properly equipped with special instrumentation such as: flow meters and pad temperature probes to monitor journal bearing behaviour, displacement probes to measure rotor vibrations relative to the bearings. The main objective of the experimental activity is the full assessment of the rotordynamic response and the selection of the best configuration to target the design requirements (e.g. FPJB and “Active ISFD” vs. FPJB and “Inactive ISFD”).