Direct measurement of the damping and stiffening capabilities of cylindrical underplatform dampers

Abstract

The paper focuses on the cylindrical underplatform damper, a friction damping device widely used in power generation turbines. The first goal of the paper is to estimate the stiffness and damping contribution of cylindrical dampers interposed between adjacent blades vibrating along a typical in-phase mode. For the first time, the damper characterization is performed through the direct measurement of contact forces and platform displacements.Measurements show that the damper does not introduce damping or stiffness if the two platforms, with which the damper is in contact, share the same angles (i.e. blade with symmetrical platform) and are vibrating in-phase. This is an adequate design choice if only the damper sealing function is required, while changes to the disk dynamics are not desired. The damper produces a small stiffening effect only if the two adjacent platforms have different angles. These findings are confirmed by an analytical derivation performed on the basis of a simple yet effective damper model.The damper numerical model requires parameters which may be calibrated, i.e. the cylinder-on-flat tangential contact stiffness. The second goal of the paper is to use the experimental evidence on contact forces and platform displacements to estimate these parameters for different centrifugal loads using a purposely developed technique. These values are compared with those obtained at an identically designed contact interface on a curved flat damper (i.e. cylindrical damper with a flattened side). The differences found in the calibration parameters show that the local stiffnesses depends not only on the local geometry of the contact but also on the damper kinematics.