• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2014

In this study, a three-pad gas foil journal bearing with a diameter of 40 mm and an axial length of 35 mm was modeled to predict the static and dynamic performances with regard to an increasing mechanical preload. The Reynolds equation for an isothermal and isoviscous ideal gas was coupled with a simple elastic foundation foil model to calculate the hydrodynamic pressure solution iteratively. In the prediction results, the journal eccentricity, journal attitude angle, and minimum film thickness decreased, but the friction torque increased with the preload. A quick comparison implied a lower load capacity but higher stability for a three-pad gas foil bearing compared to a one-pad gas foil journal bearing. The direct stiffness coefficients increased with the preload, but the cross-coupled stiffness coefficients decreased. The direct damping coefficient increased in the horizontal direction but decreased in the vertical direction as the preload increased. These model predictions will be useful as a benchmark against experimental test data.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.114-121
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• 2005

As fuel cell system is environmental friendly generator, its performance depends on its air supply system. Because, fuel cell stack generates electrical energy by electron and the electron is generated by reacting between air and hydrogen. So, more and more compressed air is supplied, more and more the energy can be obtained. In this study, turbo-expander supported by air foil bearing is introduced as the air supply system used by fuel cell systems. The turbo-expander is a turbo machine which operates at high speed, so air foil bearings suit its purpose for the bearing elements. Analysis for confirming the stability and endurance is conducted. Based on FDM and Newton-Raphson method, characteristics of air foil bearing, dynamic coefficients, pressure field and load capacity, are obtained. Using the characteristics of air foil bearing, the rotordynamic analysis is performed by finite element method. The analysis (stability analysis and critical speed map) shows that turbo-expander is stability at running speed. After the analysis, the test process and results are presented. The goals of test are running up to 90,000 RPM, flow rate of 150 $m^3/h$ and pressure ratio of 1.15. The test results show that the aerodynamic performance and stability of turbo-expander are satisfied to the primary goals.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.245-251
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• 2004

This paper presents the effects of the bump foil stiffness on the static and dynamic performance of the foil journal bearings. Reynolds equation is used for the static and dynamic performance analyses. To consider the deflection of top foil the top foil is modeled as a elastic beam and the bump foil is modeled as a spring. So in the static performance analysis the load capacity is compared to the various bump foil stiffness and in the dynamic performance analysis the trajectory of journal center is compared to the various bump foil stiffness.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2024

This study analyzes the thermal effects on the performance of an air foil thrust bearing (AFTB) using COMSOL Multiphysics to approximate actual bearing behavior under real conditions. An AFTB is a sliding-thrust bearing that uses air as a lubricant to support the axial load. The AFTB consists of top and bump foils and supports the rotating disk through the hydrodynamic pressure generated by the wedge effect from the inclined surface of the top foil and the elastic deformation of the bump foils, similar to a spring. The use of air as a lubricant has some advantages such as low friction loss and less heat generation, enabling air bearings to be widely used in high-speed rotating systems. However, even in AFTB, the effects of energy loss due to viscosity at high speeds, interface frictional heat, and thermal deformation of the foil caused by temperature increase cannot be ignored. Foil deformation derived from the thermal effect influences the minimum decay in film thickness and enhances the film pressure. For these reasons, performance analyses of isothermal AFTBs have shown few discrepancies with real bearing behavior. To account for this phenomenon, a thermal-fluid-structure analysis is conducted to describe the combined mechanics. Results show that the load capacity under the thermal effect is slightly higher than that obtained from isothermal analysis. In addition, the push and pull effects on the top foil and bump foil-free edges can be simulated. The differences between the isothermal and thermal behaviors are discussed.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.12a
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• pp.98-103
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• 2004

This paper presents modeling and simulation of the bump foil bearings with consideration of the elastic behavior of the foil and gas compressibility. Heshmat had originally introduced the simple compliance model to estimate the EHL(elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication) performance. But this approach can not consider the deflection of top foil at the edge of bearing, so model is insufficient to analyze in case that the eccentricity ratio is greater than I. So the top foil is considered as a simple beam model supported by linear spring elements, and the bump foil deflection can be simple compliance model. The EHL calculations are performed for convention rigid type, classical foil type, variable pitch type and double bump type toil bearings. This paper presents that 2nd or 3rd generation bearings have excellent performance in every speeds.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.76-80
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• 2023

This paper describes an experimental investigation of the effect of cooling flow rate on gas foil thrust bearing (GFTB) performance. In a newly developed GFTB test rig, a non-contact type pneumatic cylinder provides static loads to the test GFTB and a high-speed motor rotates a thrust runner up to the maximum speed of 80 krpm. Force sensor, torque arm connected to another force sensor, and thermocouples measures the applied static load, drag torque, and bearing temperature, respectively, for cooling flow rates of 0, 25, and 50 LPM at static loads of 50, 100, and 150 N. The test GFTB with the outer radius of 31.5 mm has six top foils supported on bump foil structures. During the series of tests, the transient responses of the bearing drag torque and bearing temperature are recorded until the bearing temperature converges with time for each cooling flow rate and static load. The test data show that the converged temperature decreases with increasing cooling flow rate and increases with increasing static load. The drag torque and friction coefficient decrease with increasing cooling flow rate, which may be attributed to the decrease in viscosity and lubricant (air) temperature. These test results suggest that an increase in cooling flow rate improves GFTB performance.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.5-10
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• 2011

MTG(Micro turbine generator) operating at 400,000 rpm is under development and the impact test rig to measure the dynamic stiffness and damping coefficient of air foil bearing for high speed rotor is presented in this study. The stiffness and damping coefficient of air foil bearing depending on the rotational speed can be measured easily and effectively by using the simple configuration of impact test rig which is composed of air gun, gap sensors and high speed motor. The estimation results of stiffness and dampling coefficient using least square estimation method is presented as well.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.332-341
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• 2020

High-speed turbomachinery implements gas foil bearings (GFBs) due to their distinctive advantages, such as high efficiency, lesser part count, and lower weight. This paper provides the test results of the static structural stiffnesses and loss factors of bump-type foil thrust bearings with increasing preload and bearing deflection. The focus of the current work is to experimentally quantify variability in structural stiffnesses and loss factors among the four test thrust bearings with identical design values and material of the bump and top foil geometries using the same (open-source) fabrication method. A simple test setup, using a rigidly mounted non-rotating shaft and thrust disk, measures the bearing bump deflections with increasing static loads on the test bearing. The inner and outer diameters of the test bearings are 41 mm and 81 mm, respectively. The loss factor, best-representing energy dissipation in the test bearings, is estimated from the area inside the local hysteresis loop of the load versus the bearing deflection curve. The measurements show that structural stiffnesses and loss factors of the test bearings significantly rely on applied preloads and bearing deflections. Local structural stiffnesses of the test bearings increase with applied preloads but decrease with bearing deflections. Changes of loss factors are less sensitive to applied preloads and bearing deflections compared to those of structural stiffnesses. Up to 35% variability in static load structural stiffnesses is found between bearings, while up to 30% variability in loss factors is found between bearings.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.283-288
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• 2005

This paper presents the theoretical model and analysis results to investigate the effect of Coulomb damping in the sub-structure of a foil bearing. Vertical and horizontal deflection of a bump is restricted by friction of the bump. Equivalent viscous damping of the bump foil is derived from the Coulomb friction. Dynamic equation of the bump is constituted by stiffness and damping terms. The air film is modeled by the compressible Reynolds equation. A perturbation approach and finite difference numerical method is used to determine the static and dynamic performance of the bearing from the coupled fluid-structural model. The analysis result shows that the static and dynamic performance is enhanced by the bump friction.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.607-610
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• 2002

As machines become smaller and faster multileaf foil bearings are used to overcome the problems with heat, friction and wear Systems with foil bearings do not need a separate system for lubrication. These bearings are self acting and are therefore green systems. Until now, there have been many studies on the structural and dynamical performances. Therefore the object of the present study is to predict the flow and structural characteristics by using the Fluid/structure interaction method. The increase in RPM led to the increase in pressure, temperature difference, maximum velocity, Mach number, shear stress and torque. In the case of 90,000 RPM effects such as choking led to a non-lineararity in the system. Also the effect of eccentricity ratio was observed and showed that eccentricity increased the maximum pressure and the density difference while decreasing the shear stress and torque.