The paper presents the experimental unbalance response of two slightly different rigid rotors supported by aerodynamic foil bearings. Impulse (Pelton) turbines manufactured directly in the mass of the rotors (on the outer surface) entrain both rotors at rotation speeds comprised between 50 krpm and 100 krpm. The displacements in the two foil bearings are measured during coast down and are depicted as waterfall plots. They show typical nonlinear behavior, i.e., subsynchronous vibrations accompanying the synchronous component. The measurements clearly show that the subsynchronous components bifurcate or jump at typical rotation speeds (mostly rational fractions of the rotation speed). The nonlinear behavior of the rigid rotor supported on foil bearings is also emphasized by varying the added unbalance: with increasing unbalance the vibration spectrum becomes gradually more diverse as new subsynchronous vibrations appear. The experimental results are compared with very simplified theoretical predictions based on the assumption that the air film in the two bearings is infinitely stiff compared to the foil structure. The latter is characterized by a cubic stiffness and a structural damping coefficient. The comparisons show only a rough qualitative agreement.

The paper deals with the experimental analysis of the torque and of the lift-off velocity of a foil thrust bearing. The geometric characteristics of the foil thrust bearing follow the design recently proposed by Dykas et al. (2009, “Design, Fabrication, and Performance of Foil Gas Thrust Bearings for Microturbomachinery Applications,” ASME J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power, 131(1), p. 012301-1). A dedicated test rig was developed and enables the measurement of the speed, the torque, and temperatures under the foils. The measurements underlined the importance of managing heat transfer in a foil thrust bearing. Results are presented for mild static loads ranging from 5 to 60 N and rotation speeds comprised between 20 and 35 krpm. The value of the start-up torque was validated by comparisons with results obtained with a rapid camera.

This paper deals with the experimental analysis of the dynamic characteristics of a foil thrust bearing (FTB) designed according to specifications given by NASA scientists in 2009 (Dykas et al., 2009, “Design, Fabrication, and Performance of Foil Gas Thrust Bearings for Microturbomachinery Applications,” ASME J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power, 131(1), p. 012301). The present work details the new configuration of the same test rig that was used to test start-up characteristics of the aforementioned bearing (Balducchi et al., 2013, “Experimental Analysis of the Start-Up Torque of a Mildly Loaded Foil Thrust Bearing,” ASME J. Tribol., 135(3), p. 031703). The rig has been reconfigured to test dynamic characteristics. The dynamic characteristics of the bump foil structure were measured for static loads comprised between 30 N and 150 N while measurements for the FTB were performed at 35 krpm for 30 N, 60 N, and 90 N. Excitation frequencies were comprised between 150 Hz and 750 Hz. Results showed that the dynamic stiffness of the FTB increase with excitation frequency while the equivalent damping decreases. Both stiffness and damping increase with the static load but are smaller at 35 krpm compared to 0 rpm.

The present work is focused on the pneumatic hammer instability in an aerostatic bearing with shallow recesses and orifices of four different diameters. Operating conditions were zero rotation speed, zero load, and different supply pressures. The diameters of the tested orifices were large compared to the usual practice and correspond to a combined inherent and orifice restriction. The theoretical analysis was based on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) evaluation of the ratio between the recess and the feeding pressure and on the “bulk flow” calculation of the rotordynamic coefficients of the aerostatic bearing. Calculations showed an increase of the direct stiffness with decreasing the orifice diameter and increasing the supply pressure and, on the other hand, a decrease toward negative values of the direct damping with decreasing the orifice diameter. These negative values of the direct damping coefficient indicate pneumatic hammer instabilities. In parallel, experiments were performed on a floating bearing test rig. Direct stiffness and damping coefficients were identified from multiple frequency excitations applied by a single shaker. Experiments were performed only for the three largest orifices and confirmed the decrease of the direct damping with the orifice diameter and the supply pressure. The identification of the rotordynamic coefficients was not possible for the smallest available orifice because the aerostatic bearing showed self-sustained vibrations for all feeding pressures. These self-sustained vibrations are considered the signature of the pneumatic hammer instability. The paper demonstrates that aerostatic bearings with shallow recesses and free of pneumatic hammer instabilities can be designed by adopting orifice restrictors of large size diameter.