A coupled 1D film hydrodynamics and core gas flow model for air-oil flows in aero-engine bearing chambers

A robust 1D film hydrodynamic model has been sequentially coupled with a 1D core gas model and used to predict the instantaneous mean core gas speed, film interface shear stress and liquid film distribution within an idealised bearing chamber. This novel approach to aero-engine bearing chamber simul...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kakimpa, Bruce, Morvan, Herve, Hibberd, Stephen
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42689/
_version_ 1848796544655949824
author Kakimpa, Bruce
Morvan, Herve
Hibberd, Stephen
author_facet Kakimpa, Bruce
Morvan, Herve
Hibberd, Stephen
author_sort Kakimpa, Bruce
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description A robust 1D film hydrodynamic model has been sequentially coupled with a 1D core gas model and used to predict the instantaneous mean core gas speed, film interface shear stress and liquid film distribution within an idealised bearing chamber. This novel approach to aero-engine bearing chamber simulation provides a predictive tool that can be used for the fast and reliable exploration of a set of bearing chamber design and operating conditions characterised by the: chamber dimensions, air/oil fluid properties, shaft speed, sealing air flows, oil feed rates and sump scavenge ratios. A preliminary validation of the model against available bearing chamber flow measurements from literature shows good agreement. The model represents a significant step change in predictive capabilities for aero-engine oil system flows compared to previous semi-empirical models. The bearing chamber is idealised as a one-dimensional (2D) domain with a predominantly azimuthal flow in both the rotational oil film and core gas such that axial components may be ignored. A 1D system of depth-averaged film hydrodynamics equations is used to predict oil film thickness and mean speed distributions in the azimuthal direction under the influence of interface shear, gravity, pressure gradient and surface tension forces. The driving shear stress in the film model is obtained from the 1D core-gas model based on an azimuthal gas momentum conservation equation which is coupled to the film model through the interface shear stress and film interface velocity.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:49:40Z
format Conference or Workshop Item
id nottingham-42689
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:49:40Z
publishDate 2017
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-426892020-05-04T18:53:15Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42689/ A coupled 1D film hydrodynamics and core gas flow model for air-oil flows in aero-engine bearing chambers Kakimpa, Bruce Morvan, Herve Hibberd, Stephen A robust 1D film hydrodynamic model has been sequentially coupled with a 1D core gas model and used to predict the instantaneous mean core gas speed, film interface shear stress and liquid film distribution within an idealised bearing chamber. This novel approach to aero-engine bearing chamber simulation provides a predictive tool that can be used for the fast and reliable exploration of a set of bearing chamber design and operating conditions characterised by the: chamber dimensions, air/oil fluid properties, shaft speed, sealing air flows, oil feed rates and sump scavenge ratios. A preliminary validation of the model against available bearing chamber flow measurements from literature shows good agreement. The model represents a significant step change in predictive capabilities for aero-engine oil system flows compared to previous semi-empirical models. The bearing chamber is idealised as a one-dimensional (2D) domain with a predominantly azimuthal flow in both the rotational oil film and core gas such that axial components may be ignored. A 1D system of depth-averaged film hydrodynamics equations is used to predict oil film thickness and mean speed distributions in the azimuthal direction under the influence of interface shear, gravity, pressure gradient and surface tension forces. The driving shear stress in the film model is obtained from the 1D core-gas model based on an azimuthal gas momentum conservation equation which is coupled to the film model through the interface shear stress and film interface velocity. 2017-06-30 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed Kakimpa, Bruce, Morvan, Herve and Hibberd, Stephen (2017) A coupled 1D film hydrodynamics and core gas flow model for air-oil flows in aero-engine bearing chambers. In: ASME Turbo Expo 2017: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition, 26-30 June 2017, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. Thin film Bearing chamber System model
spellingShingle Thin film
Bearing chamber
System model
Kakimpa, Bruce
Morvan, Herve
Hibberd, Stephen
A coupled 1D film hydrodynamics and core gas flow model for air-oil flows in aero-engine bearing chambers
title A coupled 1D film hydrodynamics and core gas flow model for air-oil flows in aero-engine bearing chambers
title_full A coupled 1D film hydrodynamics and core gas flow model for air-oil flows in aero-engine bearing chambers
title_fullStr A coupled 1D film hydrodynamics and core gas flow model for air-oil flows in aero-engine bearing chambers
title_full_unstemmed A coupled 1D film hydrodynamics and core gas flow model for air-oil flows in aero-engine bearing chambers
title_short A coupled 1D film hydrodynamics and core gas flow model for air-oil flows in aero-engine bearing chambers
title_sort coupled 1d film hydrodynamics and core gas flow model for air-oil flows in aero-engine bearing chambers
topic Thin film
Bearing chamber
System model
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42689/