A gas-operated bearing damper for turbomachinery

Journal Article · Thu Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2906720· OSTI ID:6400303

Vance, J M; Cardon, B P; San Andres, L A ^[1]; Storace, A F ^[2]

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1. Texas A and M Univ., College Station (United States)
2. General Electric Aircraft Engines, Cincinnati, OH (United States)

A gas-operated bearing damper for turbomachinery has been designed, analyzed, and experimentally investigated in the laboratory. The damper utilizes air bled off from the compressor to power an actuator through orifices with area modulated by the vibratory displacement at the bearing support. The design objective for this passive device is to make the actuating dynamic gas pressure phase lead the vibratory displacement by 90 deg. Several variations of the basic concept have been tested. An analysis was performed to guide the experiments. All of the designs tested to date can produce positive damping, and one particular design has produce a damping coefficient of 8,756 N-s/m (50 lb-sec/in.) with a power penalty of 5.2 kW (7 hp) at 310 KPa (45 psi). This design was installed on a laboratory rotor with flexibly supported ball bearings, and significant damping of the critical speed response was demonstrated. The experimental results to date suggest that further research can produce significant improvements in performance, and the device appears to be especially adaptable to high-temperature applications for aircraft engines.

• OSTI ID: 6400303
• Journal Information: Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power; (United States) Vol. 115:2; ISSN JETPEZ; ISSN 0742-4795
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
330103* -- Internal Combustion Engines-- Turbine
BEARINGS
CRITICAL VELOCITY
DAMPING
DATA
EQUIPMENT
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
INFORMATION
MACHINERY
MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS
NUMERICAL DATA
ROTORS
TURBOMACHINERY
VELOCITY