CFD Simulation of Air Ingestion in a Squeeze Film Damper

Squeeze film damper (SFD) is widely adopted in the high performance rotor-bearing systems to eliminate rotor vibration and improve stability. Experiments show that the air ingestion from the open end would have notable impact on the SFD performance. Multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) calculation on the air ingestion in the SFD is conducted in this work. Results are validated with the experimental data to prove the capability of the multiphase CFD on predicting the air ingestion. Air and oil flow in the SFD are analyzed in details. By comparing the CFD results with and without air ingestion, the effect of air ingestion is revealed. Results show that CFD is capable of predicting the air-oil flow in the SFD. The maximum air region is located in the vicinity of the largest bearing clearance region rather than the low pressure zone. And air ingestion in the largest bearing clearance region counteracts the hydrodynamic pressure effect in the vicinity.