Investigations on the Rotordynamic Coefficients of Pocket Damper Seals Using the Multifrequency, One-Dimensional, Whirling Orbit Model and RANS Solutions

The numerical approach using the multifrequency one-dimensional whirling orbit model and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solution was proposed for prediction of rotordynamic coefficients of pocket damper seal (PDS). By conducting the multiple frequencies one-dimensional whirling orbit for rotor center as the excitation signal, the unsteady RANS solutions combined with mesh deformation method were utilized to calculate the transient response forces on the PDS rotor surface. Unlike the single frequency whirling orbit models which require a separate computation for each frequency, the multifrequency whirling orbit model yields results for multiple frequencies and therefore requires only one computation for different frequencies. The rotor motion signal and response force signal were transformed to the frequency domain using the fast fourier transform, then the eight rotordynamic coefficients of the PDS were determined at fourteen different vibration frequencies 20–300 Hz. The numerical results of rotordynamic coefficients of the PDS were in good agreement with experimental data. The accuracy and availability of the proposed method was demonstrated. The effects of vibration frequencies and pressure ratios on the rotordynamic coefficients of PDS were also investigated using the presented numerical method. The multifrequency one-dimensional whirling orbit model is a promising method for prediction of the rotordynamic coefficients of the PDS.