Identification and Prediction of Force Coefficients in a Five-Pad and Four-Pad Tilting Pad Bearing for Load-on-Pad and Load-Between-Pad Configurations

Abstract

This paper presents the identification of the rotordynamic force coefficients for direct lubrication five-pad and four-pad tilting pad bearings. The bearing is 110 mm in diameter with a L/D of 0.4 pad axial length (44 mm). The experiments include load-on-pad and load-between-pad configurations, with 0.5 and 0.6 pivot offsets, for rotor speeds ranging from 7500 rpm to 15,000 rpm. The bearing force coefficients are identified from multiple frequency excitations (20–300 Hz) exerted on the bearing housing by a pair of hydraulic shakers and are presented as a function of the excitation frequency and rotor speed for a 300 kPa unit load. The experimental results also include temperatures at the trailing edge of three pads. The direct force coefficients, identified from curve-fits of the complex dynamic stiffness, are frequency independent if considering an added mass term much smaller than the test device modal mass. The force coefficients from the four-pad bearing load-between-pad configuration show similar coefficients in the loaded and orthogonal directions. On the other hand, as expected, the five-pad bearing load-on-pad shows larger coefficients (∼25%) in the loaded direction. The maximum pad temperature recorded for the 0.5 pivot offset configurations is up to 20°C higher than those associated to the 0.6 offset configuration. Results from a predictive code are within 50% of the experimental results for the direct stiffness coefficients and within 30% for the direct damping coefficients.