Dynamic force coefficients identification on air-lubricated herringbone grooved journal bearing

The Narrow Groove Theory (NGT) is commonly used to simulate and design grooved gas bearing. However, measurements of dynamic force coefficients of Herringbone Grooved Journal Bearings (HGJBs) is missing, hence the validation historic NGT has never been performed, despite its importance. A test rig was built in order to identify stiffness and damping coefficients of HGJBs of a rotor perturbed by piezo-electric shakers. Results indicate that the NGT captures the qualitative behavior of HGJB well but tends to overestimate the stiffness and damping coefficients by 23 and 29% respectively. Gravity led to a eccentricity ratio in excess of 15% without significant effect. The direct damping coefficient was found to be mildly non-linear with the excitation amplitude.