The no-slip boundary condition is the foundation of traditional lubrication theory. It says that fluid adjacent to a solid boundary has zero velocity relative to that solid surface. For most practical applications the no-slip boundary condition is a good model for predicting fluid behavior. However, recent experimental research has found that for special engineered surfaces the no-slip boundary condition is not applicable. Measured velocity profiles suggest that slip is occurring at the interface. In the present study, it is found that judicious application of slip to a bearings surface can lead to improved bearing performance. The focus of this thesis is to analyze the effect an engineered slip/no-slip surface could have on hydrodynamic bearing performance. A heterogeneous pattern is applied to the bearing surface in which slip occurs in certain regions and is absent in others. Analysis is performed numerically for both plane pad slider bearings and journal bearings. The performance parameters evaluated for the bearings are load carrying capacity, side leakage rate and friction force. Fluid slip is assumed to occur according to the Navier relation and the effect of a critical value for slip onset is considered.

Compliant Air Foil Bearings are used in a wide variety of applications. The versatility, ease of manufacture, and low cost of foil bearings are a few of the reasons foil bearing have been so thoroughly researched. Miniaturization of gas foil bearings has been explored using silicon parts with marginal success. An approach utilizing a well known micro-fabrication technique called LIGA (German acronym meaning Lithography, Electroplating, and Molding) is suggested as an alternative method. X-ray LIGA and UV-LIGA were explored and elastic foundations 200?m and 1mm in depth were made for an impulse turbine test setup. The main difference in between the two methods is resolution and depth that each is capable of producing. In addition, precision machine forming was used to create a top foil for the foil bearing. The predicted performance of the bearing was investigated through the orbit simulation method. A parametric study based on preload, as well as loss factor, was conducted in which the rotor speed was varied and the responses were used to create cascade plots. Both the response and cascade plots are useful to determine the onset of instability and the maximum operating speed of the foil bearing manufactured through LIGA. The unique features of the gas foil bearing introduced provide great promise in terms of its application considering the high stable operating speed is just above 1000 krpm.

A fixed geometry hybrid thrust bearing is investigated with three different supply orifice diameters. The test rig uses a face-to-face thrust bearing design, with the test bearing acting as the rotor loading mechanism. A hydraulic shaker applies the static axial load, which is reacted by a second thrust bearing. The rotor is supported radially by two water-lubricated fluid film journal bearings and is attached to a 30,600 rpm motor via a high speed coupling with very low axial stiffness. Thrust bearings with three different orifice diameters (1.63, 1.80, and 1.93 mm) are tested for a range of supply pressures, fluid film thicknesses, and rotational speeds. The water-lubricated test bearings have eight pockets, with feed orifices located centrally in each pocket. Experimental results are comparted to predictions found using bulk flow model HYDROTHRUST. Analysis of the data reveals generally good agreements between predictions and measurements. Thrust-bearing inlet supply and inner radius flow rates all decreased with decreasing orifice diameters and bearing axial clearances. In most cases, the bearings with larger orifice diameters exhibit higher recess pressure ratios, operating clearances, and flow rates. The largest orifice diameter configuration does not display higher recess pressure ratios or operating clearances at high speeds for some supply pressures, but it does continue to require additional lubricant flow rate compared to the smaller orifice bearings. In these cases, the results are not reflected in predictions, which otherwise correlate very well with experimental measurements. Estimations of static loading axial stiffness are obtained using experimental results. An optimum hybrid thrust bearing orifice diameter will depend on the conditions of individual applications. Larger orifices generally provide larger operating clearances and higher stiffnesses, but also require higher flow rates. For most applications, a compromise of bearing performance parameters will be desired. The test results and comparisons presented will aid in sizing orifice diameters for future hybrid thrust bearing designs.

Gas foil bearings (GFBs) operating at high temperature rely on thermal management procedures that supply needed cooling flow streams to keep the bearing and rotor from overheating. Poor thermal management not only makes systems inefficient and costly to operate but could also cause bearing seizure and premature system destruction. To date, most of thermal management strategies rely on empirically based "make-and-break" techniques which are often inefficient. This dissertation presents comprehensive measurements of bearing temperatures and shaft dynamics conducted on a hollow rotor supported on two first generation GFBs. The hollow rotor (1.36 kg, 36.51 mm OD and 17.9 mm ID) is heated from inside to reach an outer surface temperature of 120 degrees C. Experiments are conducted with rotor speeds to 30 krpm and with forced streams of air cooling the bearings and rotor. Air pressurization in an enclosure at the rotor mid span forces cooling air through the test GFBs. The cooling effect of the forced external flows is most distinct when the rotor is hottest and operating at the highest speed. The temperature drop per unit cooling flow rate significantly decreases as the cooling flow rate increases. Further measurements at thermal steady state conditions and at constant rotor speeds show that the cooling flows do not affect the amplitude and frequency contents of the rotor motions. Other tests while the rotor decelerates from 30 krpm to rest show that the test system (rigid-mode) critical speeds and modal damping ratio remain nearly invariant for operation with increasing rotor temperatures and with increasing cooling flow rates. Computational model predictions reproduce with accuracy the test data. The work adds to the body of knowledge on GFB performance and operation and provides empirically derived guidance for successful integration of rotor-GFB systems.

Gas foil bearings (GFB) appear to satisfy most requirements for oil-free turbomachinery, i.e. relatively simple in construction, ensuring low drag friction and reliable high speed operation. However, GFBs have a limited load capacity and minimal amounts of damping. A test rig for the rotordynamic evaluation of gas foil bearings was constructed. A DC router motor, 25 krpm max speed, drives a 1.02 kg hollow rotor supported on two bump-type foil gas bearings (L = D = 38.10 mm). Measurements of the test rotor dynamic response were conducted for increasing mass imbalance conditions. Typical waterfalls of rotor coast down response from 25 krpm to rest evidence the onset and disappearance of severe subsynchronous motions with whirl frequencies at ~ 50% of rotor speed, roughly coinciding with the (rigid mode) natural frequencies of the rotor-bearing system. The amplitudes of motion, synchronous and subsynchronous, increase (non) linearly with respect to the imbalance displacements. The rotor motions are rather large; yet, the foil bearings, by virtue of their inherent flexibility, prevented the catastrophic failure of the test rotor. Tests at the top shaft speed, 25 krpm, did not excite subsynchronous motions. In the experiments, the subsynchronous motion speed range is well confined to shaft speeds ranging from 22 krpm to 12 krpm. The experimental results show the severity of subsynchronous motions is related to the amount of imbalance in the rotor. Surprisingly enough, external air pressurization on one side of the foil bearings acted to reduce the amplitudes of motion while the rotor crossed its critical speeds. An air-film hovering effect may have enhanced the sliding of the bumps thus increasing the bearings’ damping action. The tests also demonstrate that increasing the gas feed pressure ameliorates the amplitudes of subsynchronous motions due to the axial flow retarding the circumferential flow velocity development. A finite element rotordynamic analysis models the test rotor and uses predicted bearing force coefficients from the static equilibrium GFB load analysis. The rotordynamic analysis predicts critical speeds at ~8 krpm and ~9 krpm, which correlate well with test critical speeds. Predictions of rotordynamic stability are calculated for the test speed range (0 to 25 krpm), showing unstable operation for the rotor/bearing system starting at 12 krpm and higher. Predictions and experimental results show good agreement in terms of critical speed correlation, and moderate displacement amplitude discrepancies for some imbalance conditions. Post-test inspection of the rotor evidenced sustained wear at the locations in contact with the bearings' axial edges. However, the foil bearings are almost in pristine condition; except for top foil coating wear at the bearing edges and along the direction of applied static load.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-74).

Flywheel energy storage units have become a viable alternative to electrochemical batteries in applications such as satellites, uninterrupted power supplies, and hybrid vehicles. However, this performance is contingent upon safe operation since these flywheels can release their stored energy almost instantaneously upon failure. The research presented here investigates a health monitoring technology that may give an early indication of degraded material properties in a concentric ring composite flywheel. The existence of degraded material properties is manifested as a change in mass eccentricity due to asymmetric growth of the outermost flywheel ring. A test rig concept to investigate the technology is developed in detail using a systems engineering design process. Successful detection of the change in mass eccentricity was verified analytically through dynamic modeling of the flywheel rotor and magnetic suspension system. During steady state operation detection was determined to be feasible via measurements of the magnetic bearing currents and shaft position provided by the magnetic suspension feedback sensors. A rotordynamic analysis was also conducted and predicts successful operation to the maximum operating speed of 50,000 Rpm.

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No description available.

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