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Factors Influencing the Performance of Foil Gas Thrust Bearings for Oil-Free Turbomachinery Applications

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Factors Influencing the Performance of Foil Gas Thrust Bearings for Oil-Free Turbomachinery Applications FACTORS INFLUENCING THE PERFORMANCE OF FOIL GAS THRUST BEARINGS FOR OIL-FREE TURBOMACHINERY APPLICATIONS by BRIAN DAVID DYKAS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Joseph M. Prahl Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY May 2006 CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES We hereby approve the dissertation of ______________________________________________________ candidate for the Ph.D. degree *. (signed)_______________________________________________ (chair of the committee) ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ (date) _______________________ *We also certify that written approval has been obtained for any proprietary material contained therein. Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................. iii ListofTables............................... vi ListofFigures............................... vii Acknowledgements ............................ x Nomenclature............................... xi Abstract.................................. xiii 1 Introduction 1 1.1Oil-FreeTurbomachineryApplications................. 1 1.2EnablingTechnologies.......................... 5 1.3 Present Work ............................... 6 References.................................... 9 2 Background of the Art 11 2.1FoilAirBearingDevelopment...................... 11 2.2CurrentStateoftheArtPractices.................... 16 References.................................... 18 3 Gas Film Characteristics 20 3.1HydrodynamicFeatures......................... 20 3.2 Thermal Behavior............................. 21 3.3StructuralResponseandEffects..................... 24 References.................................... 25 4 Methods 26 4.1ExperimentalMethods.......................... 26 4.1.1 ThrustBearingTestRig..................... 26 4.1.2 TestSpecimens.......................... 31 4.1.3 CoolingTechniques........................ 35 4.1.4 OperatingTorqueandPowerLossMeasurements....... 36 4.1.5 LoadCapacityTesting...................... 38 4.1.6 WearMeasurements....................... 38 iii 4.1.7 BearingTemperatureMeasurement............... 39 4.2NumericalTechniques.......................... 42 4.2.1 HydrodynamicModeling..................... 44 4.2.2 ModelingofStructuralDeformation............... 45 References.................................... 46 5 Bearing Torque and Power Loss Results 48 5.1ExperimentalTorque/PowerLossMeasurements............ 48 5.1.1 BearingTorqueversusSpeedandLoad............. 48 5.1.2 Effect of Runner Surface Roughness . .............. 52 5.1.3 EffectofCoolingFlow...................... 53 5.2NumericalPredictionsofBearingTorque................ 56 References.................................... 60 6 Load Capacity Results 61 6.1ExperimentalMeasurementofLoadCapacity............. 62 6.1.1 LoadCapacityasaFunctionofSpeed............. 62 6.1.2 EffectofCoolingAirFlow.................... 64 6.1.3 Effect of Runner Surface Finish . .............. 66 6.1.4 ImpactofTopFoilCoating................... 67 6.2NumericalPredictionofLoadCapacity................. 70 6.3 General Observations........................... 74 References.................................... 76 7 Compressibility Number and Film Thickness 77 7.1 Compressibility Number ......................... 78 7.2 Film Thickness .............................. 83 7.3 Relative Effects of Thermal Management and Runner Surface Finish . 89 References.................................... 91 8 Physics of Thermal Management 92 8.1 Impacts of Runner Heat Transfer .................... 93 8.2MeasurementofBearingTemperatureGradients............ 97 8.3 Impact of Runner Convective Heat Transfer on Bearing Temperature Gradients................................. 100 8.4 Runner Material Effects ......................... 104 References.................................... 106 9 Summary and Conclusions 108 9.1SummaryofResults........................... 108 9.2Conclusions................................ 110 9.3ImplicationsandFutureWork...................... 111 iv A Discussion of Error 114 B Derivation of Characteristic Gas Film Parameters 117 C Runner Design Limitations 121 D Raw Experimental Data 126 Bibliography 132 v List of Tables 4.1 Test Bearing Parameters ....................... 34 4.2 Material Properties of Test Runner Materials at 20◦C .... 37 8.1 Rotating Disk Convection Correlations .............. 101 vi List of Figures 1.1 Photographs of Modern Foil Bearings ............... 2 1.2 Disassembled Air Cycle Machine from a B-2 Aircraft ..... 3 1.3 Diagram of a Notional Closed Brayton Cycle Rotor ...... 4 1.4 Cross Sectional View of PS304 Solid Lubricant Coating ... 6 2.1 Examples of Rigid Thrust Bearing Geometries ......... 12 2.2 Cross Section of a Generation III Foil Journal Bearing .... 13 2.3 First Appearance of Bump Foil Type Thrust Bearing in Patent Literature ................................ 15 2.4 Modern High Load Capacity Foil Thrust Bearing ....... 15 3.1 Exaggerated Cross Sectional View of Gas Film Control Volume 22 3.2 Deformed Top Foil Shape Under Hydrodynamic Pressure .. 25 4.1 Cutaway View of the Rotating Section of the High Speed Foil Thrust Bearing Test Rig ....................... 27 4.2 Thrust Bearing Test Rig Loader Section ............. 28 4.3 Diagram of Thrust Bearing Loading Mechanism ........ 29 4.4 Thrust Bearing Test Rig Torque Measurement System .... 29 4.5 Photograph of Pneumatic Loading Arrangement ........ 30 4.6 Test Thrust Runner .......................... 32 4.7 Photographs of Test Thrust Runner Surfaces .......... 33 4.8 Photographs of Test Thrust Bearings ............... 35 4.9 Sketch of Runner Assembly with Aluminum Annulus ..... 36 4.10 Time Trace of Typical Load Capacity Test ............ 40 4.11 Photograph of Optical Profilometer ................ 40 4.12 Thrust Bearing Thermocouple Instrumentation ........ 43 4.13 Foil Wear Scar Due to Tack Weld Distortions .......... 43 5.1 Torque Versus Load From 25-55 krpm .............. 49 5.2 Power Loss Versus Load From 25-55 krpm ............ 50 vii 5.3 Bearing Torque vs Load with Chromium-Coated Runner and Cooling Flow .............................. 51 5.4 Bearing Torque vs Load Showing Effect of Runner Surface Roughness ................................ 52 5.5 Effect of Cooling Flow on Bearing Torque at 55 krpm Against PS304 Surface .............................. 54 5.6 Power Loss at Load Capacity for Various Cooling Flow Rates 55 5.7 Comparison of Numerical Predictions of Bearing Torque to Experimental Data at 25krpm ................... 58 5.8 Comparison of Numerical Predictions of Bearing Torque to Experimental Data at 55krpm ................... 59 6.1 Thrust Bearing Load Capacity as a Function of Speed .... 63 6.2 Effect of Cooling Flow on Load Capacity ............. 65 6.3 Effect of Runner Surface Finish on Load Capacity ....... 68 6.4 Failure of Bearing with Uncoated Top Foils ........... 70 6.5 Thrust Bearing Surface Profile After High Load Operation .71 6.6 Comparison of Numerical Predictions of Bearing Load Ca- pacity to Experimental Data .................... 73 7.1 Load versus Compressibility Number at Various Speeds ... 79 7.2 Load Capacity Versus Compressibility Number ......... 80 7.3 High Speed Limit Behavior ..................... 82 7.4 Load Versus Compressibility Number for Various Cooling Flow Rates ................................... 83 7.5 Film Thickness Versus Load at Various Speeds ......... 85 7.6 Film Thickness near Load Capacity ................ 87 7.7 Film Thickness Versus Load at 25 krpm, 0.52 kg/min ..... 88 7.8 Load Versus Compressibility Number Showing the Effects of Cooling and Runner Surface Roughness ............. 90 8.1 FEA Plot of Runner Axial Deflection due to Through-Thickness Heat Transfer .............................. 95 8.2 PhotographofWearScaronBearingInnerRadius ...... 96 8.3 Thermocouple Locations Near Top Foil Trailing Edge ..... 98 8.4 Trailing Edge Temperature Gradients From 25-65 krpm ... 99 8.5 Estimated Convection Coefficient on Runner Backside at 35 krpm ................................... 102 8.6 Trailing Edge Temperature Gradients versus Scaled Power Loss103 8.7 Runner Thermal Conductivity Effects on Temperature Dis- tributions ................................ 106 viii C.1 Diagrams Showing Various Runner Design Features ...... 124 C.2 FE Model of Runner Face Axial Displacement at 60 krpm . 125 ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author extends his gratitude to Dr. Christopher DellaCorte of the NASA Glenn Research Center for his support and encouragement throughout this course of study. In addition, the author wishes to express his gratitude to Dr. Joseph Prahl of Case Western Reserve University for his counsel over the years, and for serving as the author’s academic advisor throughout his undergraduate and graduate studies. The members of the author’s committee, Dr. Edward White, Dr. Iwan Alexander, and Dr. Robert Mullen are also thanked. The author wishes to thank Dr. Robert Bruckner of NASA for his extensive help with numerical modeling and hydrodynamic analysis, as well as Kevin Radil of the Army Research Laboratory at GRC for his assistance with experimental methods. The author would also like to thank the rest of the members of the Oil-Free Turbo- machinery team of NASA Glenn Research Center for their advice and assistance. In particular, Brian Edmonds is thanked for
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