Analytical and experimental investigation of squeeze-film dampers executing circular orbits (Q5926027)

The authors studies the oil film pressure of a squeeze-film damper (SFD) with inertialess lubricant executing circular orbits. An analytical expression is obtained for the pressure arising in the gap of SFD executing offset circular orbits, both under short- and long-bearing assumptions. This allows to examine the influence of offset on both pressure at a fixed measuring section as a function of time, and on the pressure along the circumference at a given time. The limits within which the offset can be considered negligible are evaluated by comparing exact and approximate solutions. It is observed that, in an assigned measuring section, the experimental behaviour of the positive dynamic pressure agrees very well with the theoretical one. In the case of negative part of dynamic pressure, the tests show that cavitation takes place for a more or less wide length, depending on the feeding groove pressure. The author demonstrates that theoretical and experimental results coincide if the SFD is not starved. Additionally, the author presents an analytical expression for pressure in the long-bearing SFD executing particular circular orbits.