• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.186-194
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• 2004

Experiments were conducted to determine the structural static and dynamic characteristics of air foil bearings. The housing of the bearing on the journal was driven by an impact hammer which was used to simulate dynamic forces acting on the bump loll with various leading condition. Two different bump foils (Cu-coated bump and viscoelastic bump) were tested and the static and dynamic coefficients of two bump foils compared, based on the experimental measurements for a wide range of operating conditions. The static and dynamic characteristics of air foil bearings were extracted 0rpm the frequency response function by least square method and IV(Instrumental Variable) method. The experiment was tested at 0rpm and $10,000\~16,000rpm$, and loaded on $50\~150N$. From the test results, the possibility of the application of high load and high speed condition is suggested.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.482-487
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• 2001

Leaf type foil bearings have been used successfully in many aerospace applications such as air cycle machines, turbocompressors and turboexpander. These applications are characterized by light loads, constant speeds and low to moderate temperatures. But, as system on start-up or shutdown, sliding contact between the shaft and foil surfaces cause wear. So, in present study, to understand pressure-flow characteristics and deformation of foil bearing, flow/structure interaction analysis was used. and using this method, 2D and 3D calculation was peformed for shape of foil bearing to know circumferential direction flow and leakage flow characteristics of axial direction.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.219-227
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• 2007

The dynamic performance of air foil bearings relies on a coupling between a thin air film and an elastic foil structure. A number of successful analytical techniques to predict dynamic performance have been developed. However, the evaluation of its dynamic characteristic is still not enough because of the mechanical complexity of the foil structure and strong nonlinear behavior of friction force. This work presents a nonlinear transient analysis method to predict dynamic performance of foil bearings. In this method, time dependent Reynolds equation is used to calculate pressure distribution and a finite element method is used to model the bump foil structure. The analysis is treated with a direct implicit integration technique that can handle nonlinear problems and the stick-slip algorithm is used to consider friction force. Using this method the response to the mass unbalance excitation is investigated for various design parameters and operating conditions. The results of analysis show that foil bearing is very effective on the restriction of vibration at the resonance frequency compared to the rigid surface bearings and the effectiveness depends on the operating conditions, static load and a amount of mass unbalance. In addition, there exist optimum values of friction coefficient, bump foil stiffness and number of circumferential slit with regards to minimizing dynamic response at the resonance frequency. These optimum values are system dependent.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.792-796
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• 2009

Application of air foil bearing (AFB) is widely using to cope with requirements of high speed and high efficiency system at turbo machinery. At same time, a wide variety of AFB design methods are required. In this paper, the AFB design factor influencing the most greatly in bearing performance was selected through theoretical analysis and vibration test was conducted using selected factor. Through this process, AFB system applicable for vehicle turbo machinery was developed.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.279-284
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• 2009

The limiting load capacity of air foil thrust bearings at extremely high operating speeds is theoretically investigated. The limiting load capacity of a sector is shown to increase as the angular extent ${\beta}$ and the inlet film thickness $h_1$ of the bearing increase, while it decreases with an increase in the ramp ratio b and the compliance ${\alpha}$ of the bearing. But it is found that the angular extent of the bearing is not related to the total limiting load capacity of the $360^{\circ}$ thrust bearing.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.12a
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• pp.191-198
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• 2002

Oil-free turbo-compressor supported by compliant foil bearings which remove oil-contamination by elimination of the conventional ball bearing and oil lubrication systems is presented. Turbo-compressor makes two individual air compression with two impellers at operating speed, 39,000rpm. In this study, the rotordynamic effects caused by aerodynamic instability were investigated with variable mass flow rate. Correlation between frequencies of pressure fluctuation in two diffusers and those of excitation forces on rotor were clearly developed in aerodynamic unsteady region. Thus, these results show that it is beneficial to design high speed rotating turbomachinery considering coupling effect between aerodynamic instability and rotordynamic force.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.6 no.2 s.19
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• pp.62-69
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• 2003

An oil-free turbo-compressor supported by compliant foil bearings which remove oil-contamination by elimination of a conventional ball bearing and oil lubrication systems is presented. Turbo-compressor makes two individual air compressions with two impellers at a operating speed of 39,000 rpm. In this study, the rotordynamic effects caused by aerodynamic instability were investigated with variable mass flow rates. Correlations between frequencies of pressure fluctuation in two diffusers and those of excitation forces on rotor were clearly observed in an aerodynamic unsteady region. Thus, these results show that it is beneficial to design high-speed rotating turbomachinery by considering coupling effect between aerodynamic instability and rotordynamic force.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.271-276
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• 2006

This paper shows the rotordynamic characteristics of a turbo-generator for a BOP of a fuel cell system. The rotor-bearing system consists of magnetic shaft and compressor-turbine shaft, and the two shafts are connected by spline coupling and supported by oil free air foil bearing. Preliminary design according to several parameter is considered in detail. Static and dynamic characteristics of the AFB are estimated by the soft elasto-hydrodynamic analysis technique and the perturbation method. The results of the natural frequencies, mode shape, and unbalance response analysis are presented.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.108-113
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• 2009

This paper presents a experimental results for the performance evaluation of a double-bumped air foil bearing. The test results of a double-bumped AFB is compared with a single-bumped AFB at a heavily-loaded condition. The diameter of the test bearing is 50 mm, and the axial length is 50 mm. Nominal clearance of the single-bumped AFB is evaluated as $105{\mu}m$, and that of the double-bumped AFB is as $95{\mu}m$. The test of the AFBs are demonstrated at 3 test mode; the load variation mode, the speed variation mode, and start-stop mode. The single-bumped AFB demonstrated a upward load-carrying capacity of 95 N and a downward load-carrying capacity of 130 N at 20,000 rpm. The double-bumped AFB demonstrated a upward load-carrying capacity of 170 N and a downward load-carrying capacity of 170 N at 20,000 rpm. The single-bumped AFB demonstrated a downward lift-off speed of 16,300 rpm at 105 N. The double-bumped AFB demonstrated a downward lift-off speed of 15,400 rpm at 105 N. The start-stop test of the AFBs assure 5,000 cycle endurance life. The test results are compared with the theoretical calculation results. The test and theorectical results show thata double-bump air foil bearing provides a higher load-carrying capacity, stiffness and damping than a single-bump air foil bearing in a heavily-loaded condition.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.190-198
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• 2019

Gas foil bearings (GFBs) enable small- to medium-sized turbomachinery to operate at ultra-high speeds in a compact design by using ambient air or process gas as a lubricant. When using air or process gas, which have lower viscosity than lubricant oil, the turbomachinery has the advantage of reduced power loss from bearing friction drag. However, GFBs may have high Reynolds number, which causes turbulent flows due to process gas with low viscosity and high density. This paper analyzes gas foil journal bearings (GFJBs) with high Reynolds numbers and studies the effects of turbulent flows on the static and dynamic performance of bearings. For comparison purposes, air and R-134a gas lubricants are applied to the GFJBs. For the air lubricant, turbulence is dominant only at rotor speeds higher than 200 krpm. At those speeds, the journal eccentricity decreases, but the film thickness, power loss, and direct stiffness and damping coefficients increase. On the other hand, the R-134a gas lubricant, which that has much higher density than air, causes dominant turbulence at rotor speeds greater than 10 krpm. The turbulent flow model predicts decreased journal eccentricity but increased film thickness and power loss when compared with the lamina flow model predictions. The vertical direct stiffness and damping coefficients are lower at speeds below 100 krpm, but higher beyond that speeds for the turbulent model. The present results indicate that turbulent flow effects should be considered for accurate performance predictions of GFJBs with high Reynolds number.