Multi-Film Oil Damper Spacing for Start-Up Oil Film Supply
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multi-film oil dampers face challenges in maintaining a continuous supply of pressurized oil during start-up, which can lead to inadequate oil film formation between damper rings due to inertia and surface tension issues.
Innovation Solution
The design includes a housing with annular damper cavities and nested damper rings with spacer rings and recesses that facilitate oil flow between rings, ensuring a continuous supply of pressurized oil by spacing the rings apart and providing fluid communication between the oil inlet and the oil-filled gaps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If damper rings are placed in direct nested contact, then device complexity is reduced, but oil film formation becomes inadequate during start-up due to inertia and surface tension
Solution Approach 1:
The damper ring assembly is segmented into multiple functional components: outer damper rings, inner damper rings, and spacer rings. The spacer rings create discrete gaps between nested damper rings, allowing oil to penetrate and form films in each gap. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by maintaining structural simplicity while ensuring reliable oil film formation through controlled spacing.
Solution Approach 2:
Spacer rings serve as intermediary elements between the outer and inner damper rings. These spacers mediate the oil flow by creating gaps that allow pressurized oil to penetrate between the nested rings, overcoming surface tension and inertia effects during start-up. The intermediary spacers enable reliable oil film formation without complicating the overall damper structure.
2Ease of operation
If pressurized oil supply is interrupted during start-up, then ease of operation improves, but damping function deteriorates due to inadequate oil film maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer rings are pre-installed to create gaps between damper rings before operation begins. This preliminary structural arrangement ensures that when pressurized oil is supplied during start-up, it can immediately penetrate through the pre-formed gaps and establish oil films without interruption. The preliminary spacing structure maintains damping function while allowing easy start-up operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes hydraulic principles by introducing pressurized oil through the oil inlet, which then flows through the gaps created by spacer rings to the squeeze film annuli. The pressurized oil flow overcomes inertia and surface tension forces during start-up, ensuring continuous oil film formation and maintaining reliable damping function while allowing simple start-up operation.
3Manufacturing precision
If gaps between damper rings are reduced, then oil film thickness decreases improving damping precision, but oil supply difficulty increases due to surface tension
Solution Approach 1:
Spacer rings act as intermediaries that create controlled gaps between nested damper rings. These spacer-defined gaps are sufficient to allow pressurized oil to overcome surface tension and penetrate between rings, while the outer dimensions of the spacers control the resulting oil film thickness. This intermediary structure enables both precise oil film control and easy oil supply.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the gap structure by introducing spacer rings with specific dimensions. The spacer ring dimensions are designed to create gaps that balance two requirements: large enough to allow easy oil penetration overcoming surface tension, but small enough to produce the desired thin oil films for precise damping control.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution ensures consistent oil film formation and damping action by maintaining a continuous supply of pressurized oil between the damper rings, even during start-up conditions, effectively reducing vibrations in rotor systems.
Implementation Method 1
a continuous supply flow of pressurized oil is provided to ensure that oil films are maintained
Implementation Method 2
at least one recess defined in the respective radially outer cylindrical surfaces of the plurality of nested damper rings communicating between the squeeze film annuli and the oil inlet
Implementation Method 3
spacer rings disposed adjacent opposed ends of associated damper rings of the plurality of nested damper rings, a contact surface of the spacer rings extending radially outward of the radially outer cylindrical surface of an associated damper ring
Implementation Method 4
multi-film oil dampers may be placed in a coaxial nested series with the rotor system bearing supports to provide damping to a rotor system and, thus, reduce vibrations
Implementation Method 5
each of the films between adjacent coaxial nested damper rings must be supplied with sufficient oil
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-film oil damper has a housing defining an annular damper cavity having an oil inlet in communication with a source of pressurized oil. A plurality of nested damper rings is disposed within the annular damper cavity, the plurality of nested damper rings defining a plurality of squeeze film annuli. Spacer rings are disposed adjacent opposed ends of the damper rings. A contact surface of the spacer rings extends radially beyond a first cylindrical surface of an associated damper ring for engaging a second cylindrical surface of an adjacent damper ring. Recesses are defined in the second cylindrical surface of the damper rings, the recesses fluidly communicating between the squeeze film annuli and the oil inlet.