Identification of Dynamic Force Coefficients for an Additively Manufactured Hermetic Squeeze Film Bearing Support Damper Utilizing a Pass-Through Channel

Abstract The following paper presents breakthrough experimental results for a new hermetic squeeze film damper (HSFD) concept that is integrally designed within an externally pressurized tilting-pad radial gas bearing support. The flexibly damped gas bearing module was designed for a 7.2" (183 mm) diameter shaft and fabricated using direct metal laser melting (DMLM); also known as additive manufacturing. The bearing and HSFD were sized based on ongoing studies for oil-free super-critical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power turbines in the 8.5MW-10MW power range. The development of the new damper concept was motivated by past dynamic testing on HSFD, which generated frequency dependent stiffness and damping force coefficients. In efforts to eliminate the frequency dependency, a new HSFD architecture was conceived that adds accumulator volumes and a pass-through channel to previously conceived HSFD flow network designs. The other motivation of the work is the need for developing a cost-effective and reliable oil-free bearing technology that is scalable to large power turbomachinery applications. There were several objectives to the following work. The first objective was to successfully design and fabricate a single piece bearing-damper using additive manufacturing, while dimensionally controlling critical design features. The paper discusses the manufacturing steps and shows cut-ups that reveal adequate clearance control capability with internal damper clearances.