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The force response of squeeze film dampers and hydrodynamic bearings is significantly influenced by the occurence of cavitation inside the lubricant films. The viscosity of the occuring mixture of oil and air bubbles is vastly different than that of pure lubricant and therefore changes the pressure build‐up and thereby the stiffness and damping properties of the lubrication films. To accurately predict the force response of a squeeze film damper, the cavitation and its effect on the pressure build‐up therefore has to be taken into account. Well known cavitation algorithms for lubrication problems, like the Elrod algorithm or the two‐phase‐model, neglect the transient nature of outgassing and assume instantaneous bubble formation and collapse. In the presented paper, a transient bubble dynamics model based on the Rayleigh‐Plesset‐Scriven equation is utilised instead and its effect on the rotordynamic behaviour of a turbocharger rotor is examined based on fully transient multi body dynamics simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vibration behaviour of fast rotating rotors is significantly influenced by the bearing properties. Lubricant film induced excitations can cause sub‐synchronous rotor oscillations known as oil‐whirl and oil‐whip phenomena. The non‐linear bearing properties depend primarily on the lubricant properties, kinematics of bearing partners and especially on the occurrence of cavitation. Outgassing processes lead to a two‐phase flow consisting of gas and oil, which can influence the bearing stiffness and damping respectively and consequently the rotor response behaviour. In this contribution, the oscillations of a semi‐floating ring supported turbocharger rotor are investigated under the influence of lubricant film cavitation. For this purpose, run‐up simulations are carried out under the assumption of mass‐conserving cavitation according to the two‐phase model and compared with measurements. In order to illustrate the influence of outgassing processes, a comparison is made with non‐mass‐conserving cavitation theory according to the assumptions of Half‐Sommerfeld. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]