Stiffness and damping coefficients of air rings with a chamber feeding system

Abstract

When, during the operation of rotors supported in gas bearings, their rotational velocity reaches a sufficiently high value, loss of steady state stability occurs. This instability is caused by the loss of damping properties of the gas film, which leads to self-excited vibrations. These vibrations are the basic obstacle to a widespread application of gas bearings. The phenomenon of self-excited vibrations can be avoided by introducing an elastic supporting structure between the bearing bushes and the casing, characterized by properly selected stiffness and damping coefficients. In practice, such a structure can have the form of an externally pressurized gas ring. In this paper, on the basis of selected examples, those ranges of the values of stiffness and damping coefficients of the gas ring that make it possible to retain steady state stability at practically any rotational velocity of the rotor are demonstrated. A design of the ring structure, especially of its feeding system, is also shown, which ensures the required values of stiffness and damping coefficients (with regard to the stability). These investigations have been carried out by means of a numerical simulation method with the use of a mathematical model of the gas bearing, which has already been verified many times.