Additive Manufacturing Bearing Design for Performance Improvement and Carbon Footprint Reduction

Abstract

Abstract Additive Manufacturing technology for innovative tilting pad thrust bearings can combine cleaner production process and performance improvement compared to traditional design. This new solution can also fit form and function of existing components in operation, opening to the possibility of a new kind of bearing upgrade service model. The new approach, allowing performance improvement, is based on conjugate heat transfer Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulation of the thrust bearing tilting pad sectors with oil supply definition. The solid pad has been simulated considering a series of micro-channels optimized to enhance pad temperature exchange with surrounding oil flow. Additive manufacturing has been used to realize the complex micro-channel geometry and the bearing has been tested back-to-back with a traditional design. This technology minimizes carbon footprint by reducing bearing size and associated oil flow consumption, at same/higher performance and reliability/availability. To contain compression system footprint, costs and increase efficiency the new rotor and bearing design has been pushed to higher load and speed. The new generation machines are facing new rotordynamic challenges and compressor OEMs are more and more moving towards rotor bearing integrated design and manufacturing. New manufacturing technologies like additive can help to face the new energy transition challenges and, in the near future, will play a key role. In the present work, a new manufacturing process has been developed leveraging the availability of in-house traditional bearing manufacturing line and new additive manufacturing technology labs. The material and design used allow for traditional babbitting and pad finishing whereas additive technology is opening new geometry boundaries. A first prototype has been tested back-to-back with the traditional design showing, at same load and speed, significant reduction of pad temperature up to 10 °C. The presented solution can fit form and function of existing components in operation opening to the possibility of a new kind of bearing upgrade service model able to enhance between maintenance bearing time or to reduce equipment footprint by increasing bearing specific load and reduce oil flow consumptions up to 20%-30%. The novelty of the present work was to validate enhanced CFD bearing simulations to unlock additive manufacturing potentials. This opens to the topological optimization of bearing geometry to enhance heat transfer and reduce bearing equipment footprint and oil consumptions. This is particularly suited for energy transition compressor applications.