Search

One of the main interests of gas foil bearings lies in their superior rotordynamic characteristics compared with conventional bearings. A numerical investigation on the stability limit and on the unbalanced response off oil bearings is presented in this paper The main difficulty in modeling the dynamic behavior of such bearings comes from the dry friction that occurs within the foil structure. Indeed, dry friction is highly nonlinear and is strongly influenced by the dynamic amplitude of the pressure field. To deal with these nonlinearities, a structural dynamic model has been developed in a previous work. This model considers the entire corrugated foil and the interactions between the bumps by describing the foil bearing structure as a multiple degrees of freedom system. It allows the determination of the dynamic friction forces at the top and at the bottom of the bumps by simple integration of ordinary differential equations. The dynamic displacements of the entire corrugated sheet are then easily obtained at each time step. The coupling between this structural model and a gas bearing prediction code is presented in this paper and allows performing full nonlinear analyses of a complete foil bearing. The bearing stability is the first investigated problem. The results show that the structural deflection enhances the stability of compliant surface bearings compared with rigid ones. Moreover when friction is introduced, a new level of stability is reached, revealing the importance of this dissipation mechanism. The second investigated problem is the unbalanced response of foil bearings. The shaft trajectories depict a nonlinear jump in the response of both rigid and foil bearings when the value of the unbalance increases. Again, it is evidenced that the foil bearing can support higher masts unbalance before this undesirable step occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impulse mistuning is an alternative approach for the reduction of vibration stresses of blades and vanes. In contrast to most other approaches, it is not a direct energy dissipation approach but a mistuning based one. However, the approach is not aimed at making use of the geometrical mistuning of the structure (e.g., a blade or a vane stage). Mistuners, specially designed small bodies are placed at specific locations inside of the component, e.g., of a blade or of a vane. They do not directly dissipate enough energy to cause relevant damping like a friction or friction-impact damper, because of the small mass involved, but rather mistune the eigen frequencies of the structure using impulses (impacts). As a result, the structure absorbs less energy at the original resonance and hence answers with lower vibration amplitude. In fact, impulse mistuning is a special case of absorption--the so-called targeted energy transfer (TET) with "vibro-impact nonlinear energy sinks" (VI-NES)--with very small impact mass involved, and thus, a negligible role of dissipation while experiencing a significant amount of absorption. The energy will be transferred (or "pumped") to other resonances, sometimes outside of the primary resonance crossing and partially dissipated. We use the names "impulse mistuning" or "mistuners" instead of TET or VI-NES because (in our opinion) it better describes the physics of this special kind of absorption. In the paper, the design and validation of two impulse mistuning systems, for a blade stage and a vane cluster of a lower power turbine, are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tabulated premixed conditional moment closure (T-PCMC) method has been shown to provide the capability to model turbulent, premixed methane flames with detailed chemistry and reasonable runtimes in Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) environment by Martin et al. (2013, "Modeling an Enclosed, Turbulent Reacting Methane Jet With the Premixed Conditional Moment Closure Method," ASME Paper No. GT2013-95092). Here, the premixed conditional moment closure (PCMC) method is extended to large eddy simulation (LES). The new model is validated with the turbulent, enclosed reacting methane backward facing step data from El Banhawy et al. (1983, "Premixed, Turbulent Combustion of a Sudden-Expansion Flow," Combust. Flame, 50, pp. 153-165). The experimental data have a rectangular test section at atmospheric pressure and temperature with an inlet velocity of 10.5 m/s and an equivalence ratio of 0.9 for two different step heights. Contours of major species, velocity, and temperature are provided. The T-PCMC model falls into the class of table lookup turbulent combustion models in which the combustion model is solved offline over a range of conditions and stored in a table that is accessed by the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) code using three controlling variables: the reaction progress variable (RPV), variance, and local scalar dissipation rate. The local scalar dissipation rate is used to account for the affects of the small-scale mixing on the reaction rates. A presumed shape beta function probability density function (PDF) is used to account for the effects of subgrid scale (SGS) turbulence on the reactions. SGS models are incorporated for the scalar dissipation and variance. The open source CFD code OpenFOAM is used with the compressible Smagorinsky LES model. Velocity, temperature, and major species are compared to the experimental data. Once validated, this low "runtime" CFD turbulent combustion model will have great utility for designing the next generation of lean premixed (LPM) gas turbine combustors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonlinear analysis of thermoacoustic instability is essential for the prediction of the frequencies, amplitudes, and stability of limit cycles. Limit cycles in thermoacoustic systems are reached when the energy input from driving processes and energy losses from damping processes balance each other over a cycle of the oscillation. In this paper, an integral relation for the rate of change of energy of a thermoacoustic system is derived. This relation is analogous to the well-known Rayleigh criterion in thermoacoustics, however, it can be used to calculate the amplitudes of limit cycles and their stability. The relation is applied to a thermoacoustic system of a ducted slot-stabilized 2-D premixed flame. The flame is modeled using a nonlinear kinematic model based on the G-equation, while the acoustics of planar waves in the tube are governed by linearized momentum and energy equations. Using open-loop forced simulations, the flame describing function (FDF) is calculated. The gain and phase information from the FDF is used with the integral relation to construct a cyclic integral rate of change of energy (CIRCE) diagram that indicates the amplitude and stability of limit cycles. This diagram is also used to identify the types of bifurcation the system exhibits and to find the minimum amplitude of excitation needed to reach a stable limit cycle from another linearly stable state for single-mode thermoacoustic systems. Furthermore, this diagram shows precisely how the choice of velocity model and the amplitude-dependence of the gain and the phase of the FDF influence the nonlinear dynamics of the system. Time domain simulations of the coupled thermoacoustic system are performed with a Galerkin discretization for acoustic pressure and velocity. Limit cycle calculations using a single mode, along with twenty modes, are compared against predictions from the CIRCE diagram. For the single mode system, the time domain calculations agree well with the frequency domain predictions. The heat release rate is highly nonlinear but, because there is only a single acoustic mode, this does not affect the limit cycle amplitude. For the twenty-mode system, however, the higher harmonics of the heat release rate and acoustic velocity interact, resulting in a larger limit cycle amplitude. Multimode simulations show that, in some situations, the contribution from higher harmonics to the nonlinear dynamics can be significant and must be considered for an accurate and comprehensive analysis of thermoacoustic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas bearings in oil-free microturbomachinery for gas process applications and power generation (<400 kW) must be reliable and inexpensive, ensuring low drag power and thermal stability. Bump-type foil bearings (BFBs) and overleaf-type foil bearings are in use in specialized applications, though their development time (design and prototyping), exotic materials, and excessive manufacturing cost still prevent their widespread usage. Metal mesh foil bearings (MMFBs), on the other hand, are an inexpensive alternative that use common materials and no restrictions on intellectual property. Laboratory testing shows that prototype MMFBs perform similarly as typical BFBs, but offer significantly larger damping to dissipate mechanical energy due to rotor vibrations. This paper details a one-to-one comparison of the static and dynamic forced performance characteristics of a MMFB against a BFB of similar size and showcases the advantages and disadvantages of MMFBs. The bearings for comparison are a generation I BFB and a MMFB, both with a slenderness ratio L/D = 1.04. Measurements of rotor lift-off speed and drag friction at start-up and airborne conditions were conducted for rotor speeds to 70 krpm and under identical specific loads (W/LD = 0.06 to 0.26 bar). Static load versus bearing elastic deflection tests evidence a typical hardening nonlinearity with mechanical hysteresis, the MMFB showing two to three times more material damping than the BFB. The MMFB exhibits larger drag torques during rotor start-up, and shut-down tests though bearing lift-off happens at lower rotor speeds (∼15 krpm). As the rotor becomes airborne, both bearings offer very low drag friction coefficients, ∼0.03 for the MMFB and ∼0.04 for the BFB in the speed range 20-40 krpm. With the bearings floating on a journal spinning at 50 krpm, the MMFB dynamic direct force coefficients show little frequency dependency, while the BFB stiffness and damping increases with frequency (200-400 Hz). The BFB has a much larger stiffness and viscous damping coefficients than the MMFB. However, the MMFB material loss factor is at least twice as large as that in the BFB. The experiments show that the MMFB, when compared to the BFB, has a lower drag power and eaHier lift-off speed and with dynamic force coefficients having a lesser dependency on whirl frequency excitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal mesh foil bearings (MMFBs), simple to construct and inexpensive, are a promising bearing technology for oil-free microturbomachinery operating at high speed and high temperature. Prior research demonstrated the near friction-free operation of a MMFB operating to 60 krpm and showing substantial mechanical energy dissipation characteristics. This paper details further experimental work and reports MMFB rotordynamic force coefficients. The test rig comprises a turbocharger driven shaft and overhung journal onto which a MMFB is installed. A soft elastic support structure akin to a squirrel cage holds the bearing, aiding to its accurate positioning relative to the journal. Two orthogonally positioned shakers excite the test element via stingers. The test hearing comprises a cartridge holding a Copper wire mesh ring. 2.7 mm thick, and a top arcuate foil. The bearing length and inner diameter are 38 mm and 36.5 mm, respectively. Experiments were conducted with no rotation and with journal spinning at 40-50 krpm. with static loads of 22 N and 36 N acting on the hearing. Dynamic load tests spanning frequencies from 150 to 450 Hz were conducted while keeping the amplitude of bearing displacements at 20 µm, 25 µm, and 30 µm. With no journal spinning, the force coefficients represent the bearing elastic structure alone because the journal and bearing are in contact. The direct stiffnesses gradually increase with frequency while the direct damping coefficients drop quickly at low frequencies (<200 Hz) and level off above this frequency. The damping combines both viscous and material types from the gas film and mesh structure. Journal rotation induces airborne operation with a hydrodynamic gas film separating the rotor from its hearing. Hence, cross-coupled stiffness coefficients appear although with magnitudes lower than those of the direct stiffnesses. The direct stiffnesses, 0.4 to 0.6 MN/m within 200-400 Hz, are slightly lower in magnitude as those obtained without journal rotation, suggesting the air film stiffness is quite high. Bearing direct stiffnesses are inversely proportional to the bearing motion amplitudes, whereas the direct equivalent viscous damping coefficients do not show any noticeable variation. All measurements evidence a test bearing system with material loss factor (γ)~1.0, indicating significant mechanical energy dissipation ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linear stability analysis by means of low-order network models is widely spread in industry and academia to predict the thermoacoustic characteristics of combustion systems. Even though a vast amount of publications on this topic exist, much less is reported on the predictive capabilities of such stability analyses with respect to real system behavior In this sense, little effort has been made on investigating if predicted critical parameter values, for which the combustion system switches from stability to instability, agree with experimental observations. Here, this lack of a comprehensive experimental validation is addressed by using a model-based control scheme. This scheme is able to actively manipulate the acoustic field of a combustion test rig by imposing quasi- arbitrary reflection coefficients. it is employed to continuously vary the downstream reflection coefficient of an atmospheric swirl-stabilized combustion test rig from fully reflecting to anechoic. By doing so, the transient behavior of the system can be studied. In addition to that, an extension of the common procedure, where the stability of an operating point is classified solely based on the presence of high amplitude pressure pulsations and their frequency, is given. Generally, the predicted growth rates are only compared with measurements with respect to their sign, which obviously lacks a quantitative component. In contrast to that, in this paper validation of linear stability analysis is conducted by comparing calculated and experimentally determined linear growth rates of unstable modes. Besides this, experimental results and model predictions are also compared in terms of frequency of the least stable mode. Excellent agreement between computations from the model and experiments is found. The concept is also used for active control of combustion instabilities. By tuning the downstream reflectivity of the combustion test rig, thermoacoustic instabilities can be suppressed. The underlying mechanism is an increase in the acoustic energy losses across the system boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineered metal mesh foil bearings (MMFB5) are a promising low cost bearing tech- nology for oil-free microturbomachinery. In a MMFB, a ring shaped metal mesh provides a soft elastic support to a smooth arcuate foil wrapped around a rotating shaft. This paper details the construction of a MMFB and the static and dynamic load tests conducted on the bearing for estimation of its structural stifftzess and equivalent viscous damping. The 28.00 mm diameter 28.05 mm long bearing, with a metal mesh ring made of 0.3 mm copper wire and compactness of 20%, is installed on a test shaft with a slight preload. Static load versus bearing deflection measurements display a cubic nonlinearity with large hysteresis. The bearing deflection varies linearly during loading, but nonlin- early during the unloading process. An electromagnetic shaker applies on the test bearing loads of controlled amplitude over a frequency range. In the frequency domain, the ratio of applied force to bearing deflection gives the bearing mechanical impedance, whose real part and imaginary part give the structural stiffness and damping coefficients, respectively. As with prior art published in the literature, the bearing stiffness decreases significantly with the amplitude of motion and shows a gradual increasing trend with frequency. The bearing equivalent viscous damping is inversely proportional to the excitation frequency and motion amplitude. Hence, it is best to describe the mechanical energy dissipation characteristics of the MMFB with a structural loss factor (material damping). The experimental results show a loss factor as high as 0.7 though dependent on the amplitude of motion. Empirically based formulas, originally developed for metal mesh rings, predict bearing structural stiffness and damping coefficients that agree well with the experimentally estimated parameters. Note, however that the metal mesh ring, after continuous operation and various dismantling and re-assembly processes, showed significant creep or sag that resulted in a gradual decrease in its structural force coefficients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]