EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF AN OPEN ENDS, CENTRALLY GROOVED, SQUEEZE FILM DAMPER OPERATING WITH LARGE AMPLITUDE ORBITAL MOTIONS Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • Aircraft engines customarily implement Squeeze Film Dampers (SFDs) to dissipate mechanical energy caused by rotor vibration and to isolate the rotor from its structural frame. The paper presents experimental results for the dynamic forced performance of an open ends SFD operating with large amplitude whirl motions, centered and off-centered. The test rig comprises of an elastically supported bearing with a damper section, 127 mm in diameter, having two parallel film lands separated by a central groove. Each film land is 25.4 mm long with radial clearance c = 0.251 mm. The central groove, 12.7 mm long, has a depth of 9.5 mm (38c). An ISO VG 2 lubricant flows into the groove via three 2.5 mm orifices, 120 degrees apart, and then passes through the film lands to exit at ambient condition. Two orthogonally placed shakers apply dynamic loads on the bearing to induce circular orbit motions with whirl frequency ranging from 10 Hz to 100 Hz. A static loader, 45 away from each shaker, pulls the bearing to a static eccentricity (es). Measurements of dynamic loads and the ensuing bearing displacements and accelerations, as well as the film and groove dynamic pressures, were obtained for eight orbit amplitudes (r = 0.08c to 0.71c) and under four static eccentricities (es = 0.0c to 0.76c). The experimental damping coefficients increase quickly as the bearing offset increases (es/c0.76) while remaining impervious to the amplitude of whirl orbit (r/c0.51). The inertia coefficients decrease rapidly as the orbit amplitude grows large, r>0.51c, but increase with the static eccentricity. A comparison with test results obtained with an identical damper but having a smaller clearance (cs = 0.141 mm) [1], show the prior damping and inertia coefficients are larger, 5.0 and 2.2 times larger than the current ones. These magnitudes agree modestly with theoretical ratios for damping and inertia coefficients scaling as (c/cs)3 = 5.7 and (c/cs) = 1.8, respectively. In spite of the large difference in depths between a groove and a film land, the magnitudes of dynamic pressures recorded at the groove are similar to those in the lands. That is, the groove profoundly affects the dynamic forced response of the test damper. A computational physics model replicates the experimental whirl motions and predicts force coefficients spanning the same range of whirl frequencies, orbit radii and static eccentricities. The model predictions reproduce with great fidelity the experimental force coefficients. The good agreement relies on the specification of an effective groove depth derived from one experiment.

name of conference

  • Volume 7B: Structures and Dynamics

published proceedings

  • PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASME TURBO EXPO: TURBINE TECHNICAL CONFERENCE AND EXPOSITION, 2014, VOL 7B

author list (cited authors)

  • San Andres, L., Jeung, S., & Bradley, G.

citation count

  • 2

complete list of authors

  • San Andres, Luis||Jeung, Sung-Hwa||Bradley, Gary

publication date

  • January 2014