Study on the Maximum Allowable Unbalance of the High-speed Rotor Based on the Dynamic Load Capacity of Gas Foil Bearings

Abstract

The rotor’s high-speed development trend has brought new challenges to the rotor’s dynamic balancing which has become a key factor affecting the safe and stable operation of the rotating machinery. However, there is still a lack of guidance for the dynamic balancing design for high-speed rotor bearing system. In this paper, the compliant foil gas bearings are analyzed considering the nonlinear deflection of the top foil, and the static and dynamic characteristics are obtained. Then, the rotor’s dynamic responses to various unbalance values are calculated theoretically. Finally, the maximum allowable unbalance of a high-speed rotor-bearing system is given based on the dynamic load capacity of the compliant foil gas bearing. This study can provide theoretical support for the high-speed rotor’s dynamic balancing design.