Research on axis orbit of the journal bearing lubricated with oil and refrigerant mixtures in a twin-screw refrigeration compressor

Abstract

In twin-screw refrigeration compressor for high pressure applications, journal bearing has been a preferred option to bear larger and larger radial force. Hence, the stability of rotor-journal bearing system is worth investigating to ensure the reliability of a twin-screw refrigeration compressor, which can be reflected on axis orbit. This paper presents a homogeneous two-phase flow model to calculate the axis orbit of journal bearing used in a twin-screw compressor, considering gas-induced force, unbalanced force and gravitational force. In order to compute gas-induced force acting on bearings by FEM, the p-V indicator diagram is measured experimentally. In addition, axial orbit under different evaporating temperature and different built-in volume ratio was investigated experimentally. Meanwhile it verifies that the proposed two-phase flow model has a good agreement in terms of orbit shape with the experimental result. Moreover, the effects of refrigerant mass fraction at supply groove and structural parameters are analyzed theoretically.