• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.43-48
• /
• 2018

This paper presents the thermohydrodynamic analysis of tilting journal pad bearings supporting a power turbine rotor applied to a 250 kW super-critical $CO_2$ cycle. In the analysis, the generalized Reynolds equation and 3D energy equation are solved to predict oil film temperature and the 3D heat conduction equation is solved for pad temperature. The power turbine rotor is supported by two tilting pad bearings consisting of five pads with an oil supply block between the pads. Copper backing pads with higher thermal conductivity compared to steel backing pads are adopted to improve thermal management. The predicted maximum pad temperature is around $55^{\circ}C$ which is approximately $15^{\circ}C$ higher than oil supply temperature. In addition, the predicted minimum film thickness is 50 mm at a rotating speed of 5,000 rpm. These results indicate that there is no issue in the thermal behavior of the bearing. An operation test is performed with a power turbine module consisting of a power turbine, a reduction gear and a generator. Thermocouples are installed at the 75% position from the leading edge of the pad to monitor pad temperature. The power turbine uses compressed air at a temperature of $250^{\circ}C$ in its operation. The steady state pad temperatures measured in the test show good agreement with the predicted temperatures.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.215-231
• /
• 2020

The paper presents extensive survey and review of experimental and analytical researches on fluid film bearings and squeeze film dampers (SFDs) for turbomachinery available in open literature (major archival international journals) published recently (2018 and 2019 only). Over 60 published research works are reviewed based on the research topics and objectives, the types of bearings, size of bearings, and main design parameters with a brief summary of experiments and/or predictions in each work. Some important findings and general observations about the experimental and/or predictive data are also presented. There are several major trends observed throughout the survey. A large portion of the papers focuses on bearing surface textures and effect of operating and assembly conditions on static and/or dynamic forced performances, as well as bearing surface roughness and wear patterns. Researches on geometry of orifices and recesses in hydrostatic (or hybrid) bearings, as well as bearing system stability predictions using thermohydrodynamic analysis and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), are considered as significant topics. Studies on SFDs mainly focus on experimental identification of force coefficients for various SFD geometries and sealing conditions. Reliable experiments of fluid film bearings and SFDs along with the development of experimentally benchmarked predictive tools enable reinforcement of the path for reliable implementations of the bearing components into high performance rotating machinery operating at extreme and harsh conditions. The extensive list of sources of recent experiments in the available open literature is a welcome addition to the analytical community to gauge the accuracy of predictive tools.