Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of a Rigid Rotor Supported By a Spiral-Grooved Opposed-Hemisphere Gas Bearing

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe nonlinear dynamic behavior of a rigid rotor supported by a spiral-grooved opposed-hemisphere gas bearing is investigated in this article, focusing particular attention on its whirl motion. The finite element method combined with the finite difference method is employed to solve the time-dependent Reynolds equation that is coupled with the rotor motion considering five degrees of freedom. The rotor responses to the initial disturbance and synchronous and nonsynchronous excitations are investigated. To analyze the complicated dynamic behavior of the rotor–bearing system, the trajectories of the rotor centerline, time responses, phase portraits, power spectra, Poincare maps, and bifurcation diagrams are obtained from the numerical procedure. The results show that the conical whirl instability appears earlier than the cylindrical whirl instability with increasing rotational speed for the rotor–bearing system with no unbalance mass. Moreover, it reveals that the complex dynamic behavior of the system excited by unbalance mass varies with rotational speed and rotor mass. In addition, bifurcation diagrams employing the rotating speed and rotor mass as bifurcation parameters are obtained. Finally, the nonsynchronous excitation responses are presented, which behave in a different way than the synchronous excitation responses. The results of this study offer a further understanding of the nonlinear characteristics of spiral-grooved opposed-hemisphere gas bearings.