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Thermo-elastohydrodynamic analysis of the inhomogeneous foil bearing with misalignment

Hao Li (Key Laboratory of Education Ministry for Modern Design and Rotor-Bearing System, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China and School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China)
Haipeng Geng (School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China)
Hao Lin (School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China)

Industrial Lubrication and Tribology

ISSN: 0036-8792

Article publication date: 4 August 2021

Issue publication date: 9 September 2021

172

Abstract

Purpose

The misalignment is generally inevitable in the process of machining and assembly of rotor systems with gas foil bearings, but the exploration on this phenomenon is relatively less. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to carry out the thermo-elastohydrodynamic analysis of the foil bearing with misalignment, especially the inhomogeneous foil bearing.

Design/methodology/approach

The rotor is allowed to misalign in two non-rotating directions. Then the static and dynamic performance of the inhomogeneous foil bearing is studied. The thermal-elastohydrodynamic analysis is realized by combining the Reynolds equation, foil deformation equation and energy equation. The small perturbation method is used to calculate the dynamic coefficients, then the critical whirl ratio is obtained.

Findings

The gas pressure, film thickness and temperature distribution distort when the misalignment appears. The rotor misalignment can improve the loading capacity but rise the gas temperature at the same time. Furthermore, the rotor misalignment can affect the critical whirl ratio which demonstrates that it is necessary to analyze the misalignment before the rotordynamic design.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is the exploration of the thermo-elastohydrodynamic performance of the inhomogeneous foil bearing with misalignment, the analysis procedure and the corresponding results are valuable for the design of turbo system with gas foil bearings.

Keywords

Citation

Li, H., Geng, H. and Lin, H. (2021), "Thermo-elastohydrodynamic analysis of the inhomogeneous foil bearing with misalignment", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 73 No. 6, pp. 891-896. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-05-2021-0162

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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