A Study of Stiffness and Damping Characteristics of Conventional Fluid and Smart Fluid Applied to Squeeze Film Damper
B. Rajneesh Kumar1, S. Ranganatha2
1Prof. B. Rajneesh Kumar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, BMS Evening College of Engineering, Bangalore (Karnataka), India.
2Dr. S. Ranganatha, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore (Karnataka), India.
Manuscript received on 10 November 2013 | Revised Manuscript received on 18 November 2013 | Manuscript Published on 30 November 2013 | PP: 30-34 | Volume-3 Issue-6, November 2013 | Retrieval Number: F1321113613/13©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Turbo machinery and other high speed engines play a vital role in industries worldwide. These high speed engines received considerable attention from the scientific and industrial community in order to extract better performance and higher reliability. Due to competitiveness and rapid technological advancement, the dynamic behavior of these machines is greatly dependent on the fluid film bearings. These fluid film bearings are used for its long life, low power consumption and versatile dynamic behavior. Despite of significant advancement in lubrication technology and advent of meticulous design procedures, bearings do fail in operation. Accordingly tribologists and practicing lubrication experts around the world are nowadays involved in design of general bearing system using entirely a design approach based on electrorheological fluids instead of conventional fluids to suit the requirement of high speed and heavy load operation. Smart fluid technology is an emerging field of research that leads to the introduction of Electro-rheological (ER) fluids.ER fluids are such smart materials whose rheological properties (viscosity, yield stress, shear modulus etc.) can be readily controlled upon external electric field which cannot be carried out in case of conventional fluids. This paper presents a comparative study of stiffness and damping characteristics of conventional fluids (damper oil) and electro rheological fluids (functional fluids) of external damper becomes a essential part of analysis. Calculations are carried out for different parameters like clearances, oil film thickness, fluid film width, different eccentric ratios etc. Thus the use of electro-rheological fluids introduces a new philosophy on the fact that the stiffness and damping can be changed by applying high electric field and thus minimizing the vibration of the structure during normal operation. This reduces the amplitude considerable and safe operation for high accuracy and efficiency.
Keywords: High Speed Engines, Fluid Film Bearings, Conventional Fluids, Electro-Rheological Fluids, Stiffness And Damping, Vibration.
Scope of the Article: Fluid Mechanics