The Evaluation Of Modelling Techniques For Lubricant Cavitaion In The Application Of Squeeze Film Dampers

Squeeze film damper (SFD) is widely adopted in turbo-engines to suppress the rotor vibration. However, the prediction of SFD performance is complicated due to the inevitable occurrence of lubricant cavitation. This paper shows the application of three different cavitation algorithms for SFD with sealed conditions. In particular, the linear complementarity problem (LCP) method, which is advanced from a previous research study, is applied to compare results from the well-known methods, i.e. the π-film model and the Elrod cavitation method, for SFD executing circular centered orbits with fully degassed lubricant in the absence of oil feeding. Moreover, numerical models are developed incorporating the mentioned algorithms to predict the hydrodynamic pressure distribution over the cavitated fluid film. Results show that the conventional π-film model over-estimates the cavitation region but under-estimates the reaction force.