Vibration attenuation characteristics of squeeze film dampers in spiral bevel gear systems

Abstract

A central drive bevel gear system of aero-engines extracts power from a high-pressure rotor. The high speed of the high-pressure rotor aggravates the gear system's vibration. This work adopts squeeze film dampers (SFD) as damping devices to suppress excessive vibration of the spiral bevel gear rotor system. This paper establishes the general Reynolds equation of SFD and calculates the nonlinear oil-film force of SFD in real-time based on the finite element method. Besides, the finite element method and Timoshenko beam element are employed to model the flexible gear shaft. Then, the dynamic model of the spiral bevel gear system supported by SFDs is established, including the nonlinear oil-film force of SFD and time-varying meshing stiffness of the gear system. The dynamic response of the spiral bevel gear system is analyzed theoretically and experimentally to study the vibration attenuation characteristics of SFD. The findings indicate that SFD can effectively suppress the vibration amplitude of the system at high speeds. The theoretical analysis and experimental amplitude are within an order of magnitude, and the changing trend is consistent.