The effect of lubricant inertia on fluid cavitation for high-speed squeeze film dampers

Abstract

This work studies the effect of lubricant inertia on the fluid cavitation for partially sealed high-speed squeeze film dampers (SFDs) executing small amplitude circular-centered orbits (CCOs). The lubricant cavitation is modeled by both the Elrod algorithm and the Gumbel’s cavitation boundary condition to provide the comparison between the most common lubricant cavitation models. Additionally, the fluid inertia is integrated by adapting a finite-length SFD model for partially sealed dampers. The integrated SFD model is incorporated into a numerical simulation model and the results are validated by comparison with experimental data. The results of the analysis demonstrate that the fluid inertia effects significantly extend the cavitation region and influence the cavitation onset and the film reformation.