Threshold Performance Optimization of a Rotor-Bearing System Subjected to Leakage Excitation

Abstract

Fluid leakage in blade tips in turbomachinery may induce instability and limit and output rating. In this work, the optimization technique has been used to find diameters of shaft elements and bearing supports so that the optimized rotor-bearing system can sustain a larger fluid leakage force. The results show that the threshold performance of rotor-bearing systems can be significantly improved by slight modifications of the shaft diameters. The results also indicate that the threshold performance can be improved more significantly by the combination of optimum bearing supports and optimum shaft diameters.