Calculation and interpolation of the characteristics of the hydrodynamic journal bearings in the domain of possible movements of the rotor journals

Аннотация

To visualize the physical processes that occur in the journal bearings of the shafting of power generating turbosets, a technique for preliminary calculation of a set of characteristics of the journal bearings in the domain of possible movements (DPM) of the rotor journals is proposed. The technique is based on interpolation of the oil film characteristics and is designed for use in real-time diagnostic system COMPACS®. According to this technique, for each journal bearing, the domain of possible movement of the shaft journal is computed, then triangulation of the area is performed, and the corresponding mesh is constructed. At each node of the mesh, all characteristics of the journal bearing required by the diagnostic system are calculated. Via shaft-position sensors, the system measures—in the online mode—the instantaneous location of the shaft journal in the bearing and determines the averaged static position of the journals (the pivoting vector). Afterwards, continuous interpolation in the triangulation domain is performed, which allows the real-time calculation of the static and dynamic forces that act on the rotor journal, the flow rate and the temperature of the lubricant, and power friction losses. Use of the proposed method on a running turboset enables diagnosing the technical condition of the shafting support system and promptly identifying the defects that determine the vibrational state and the overall reliability of the turboset. The authors report a number of examples of constructing the DPM and computing the basic static characteristics for elliptical journal bearings typical of large-scale power turbosets. To illustrate the interpolation method, the traditional approach to calculation of bearing properties is applied. This approach is based on a Reynolds two-dimensional isothermal equation that accounts for the mobility of the boundary of the oil film continuity.