Abstract:The accuracy and utility of rotordynamic models for machinery systems are greatly affected by the accuracy of the constituent dynamic bearing models. Primarily, the dynamic behavior of bearings is modeled as linear combination of mass, damping, and stiffness coefficients that are predicted from a perturbed Reynolds equation. In the present paper, an alternative method using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with a moving boundary is used to predict the dynamic coefficients of slider bearings and the results are compared with the more commonly employed perturbed Reynolds equation model. A linear slider bearing geometry is investigated and the results serve as precursors to similar investigations involving the more complex journal bearing geometries. Time and frequency domain methods for the estimation of dynamic coefficients are shown to give comparable results. For CFD with a moving boundary, temporal inertia is found to have a significant effect for a reduced, squeeze Reynolds number less than one. The temporal inertia effect is captured through an added mass coefficient within the dynamic model of the bearing.
A general, CFD-based frequency response method for obtaining the dynamic coefficients of hydrodynamic bearings is presented. The method is grounded in experimental parameter identification methods and is verified for an extremely long, slider bearing geometry as well as short and long journal bearing geometries. The influence of temporal inertia on the dynamic response of the bearings is discussed and quantified through the inclusion of added mass coefficients within the mechanical models of the hydrodynamic bearing films. Methods to separate the dynamic stiffness into static stiffness and added mass contributions are presented and their results compared. Harmonic perturbations are applied to the bearings at varying frequencies to determine the frequency dependence of the dynamic coefficients and to facilitate the decomposition of the dynamic stiffness into its constituents. Added mass effects are shown to be significant for the extremely long slider bearing geometry and negligible for the short and long journal bearing geometries under operating conditions motivated by those typical of marine bearings.
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