Influence of Pad Pivot Friction on Tilting-Pad Journal Bearing Measurements—Part II: Dynamic Coefficients©

This paper presents measured results for the dynamic stiffness and damping force coefficients for two tilting-pad journal bearings. Comparison between a bearing with spherical seated ball and socket pad pivots and one with line contact rocker-back pad pivots is made. The bearings tested were preloaded five pad designs with load directed on the pivots. The bearings have length to diameter ratios of 0.75, offset ratios of 0.50, preloads of about 0.320, a journal diameter of 70 mm, and radial machined pad clearances of 113.0 μm. Measurements were made for a range of speedload conditions encompassing a Sommerfeld number range of 0.1 to 2.0. Comparison of the principal stiffness and damping coefficients for the two bearings show the same trends. Nearly zero cross-coupled stiffness coefficients were measured for the bearing with rocker-back pad pivots. For the bearing with spherical seated pad pivots, non-dimensional cross-coupled stiffness coefficients for Kxy ranged from -1.2 to -0.9 and for Kyx ranged from -3.8 to 0.8. A hypothesis for increased pad pivot friction in the ball and socket is presented to explain the variation in cross-coupled stiffness coefficients between the two bearings.