Resonance vibration control method and system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11674547-B2
Application number	US-201816173145-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 29, 2018
Priority date	Nov 1, 2017
Publication date	Jun 13, 2023
Grant date	Jun 13, 2023

Abstract

A bearing arrangement includes a shaft, at least one contact bearing and at least one non-contact bearing and a controller. The controller is configured to control a magnitude of a restoring force applied to the shaft by the non-contact bearing in accordance with a sensed parameter such that a stiffness of the shaft is modified such that one or more resonance frequencies of the shaft are moved away from one or more external forcing frequencies.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An arrangement comprising:
a shaft;
at least one contact bearing and at least one non-contact bearing having a variable stiffness, the shaft being supported by and radially fixed by being in physical contact with the at least one contact bearing; and
a controller configured to:
receive signals corresponding to at least one sensed parameter of the shaft, wherein said at least one sensed parameter includes speed of the shaft,
determine a resonance detuning target frequency fin based at least on the at least one sensed parameter,
calculate a restoring stiffness Kiln of the at least one non-contact bearing from

f
n

=

1

2
⁢
π

⁢

K
n

+

K

n
⁢
c

_

M
n

_

,

where K n is a modal stiffness of the shaft and the at least one contact bearing and M n is modal mass of the shaft and the at least one contact bearing, and

control a restoring force applied to the shaft by changing the variable stiffness of the at least one non-contact bearing to the restoring stiffness.

2. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one contact bearing comprises one of a journal bearing and a rolling bearing.

3. The arrangement according to claim 2 , wherein the rolling bearing comprises one or more of a roller bearing, a ball bearing, a spherical bearing and a taper bearing.

4. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one non-contact bearing comprises a magnetic bearing.

5. The arrangement according to claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to control voltage and/or current through one or more bearing magnetic windings to control the restoring force.

6. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one non-contact bearing comprises an air bearing.

7. The arrangement according to claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to control air pressure and/or air flow to control the restoring force.

8. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensed parameter comprises one or more of a shaft displacement and a shaft rotational or vibrational frequency.

9. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensed parameter comprises a vibrational displacement of the shaft.

10. The arrangement according to claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to alter the restoring force to a value that results in a minimum vibrational displacement.

11. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one non-contact bearing includes two or more non-contact bearings that are located at different positions along the shaft.

12. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one contact bearing includes two or more contact bearings that are located at different positions along the shaft and at least one of the at least one non-contact bearing is provided at a position between two contact bearings of the two or more contact bearings.

13. A gas turbine engine comprising the bearing arrangement in accordance with claim 1 .

14. The gas turbine engine according to claim 13 , wherein the engine comprises at least one compressor and at least one turbine interconnected by a main engine shaft, wherein the main engine shaft comprises the shaft of the arrangement.

15. The gas turbine engine of claim 13 , wherein the resonance detuning target frequency f1n is further based on an engine operational condition.

16. A method of controlling a bearing arrangement supporting a shaft, the bearing arrangement comprising at least one contact bearing arranged to support and radially fix the shaft by being in physical contact with the shaft, and at least one non-contact bearing having a variable stiffness, the method comprising:
sensing at least one parameter of the shaft, wherein said at least one sensed parameter includes speed of the shaft,
determining a resonance detuning target frequency f 1n based at least on the at least one sensed parameter,
calculating a restoring stiffness K nc of the at least one non-contact bearing from

f

1
⁢
n

=

1

2
⁢
π

⁢

K
n

+

K

n
⁢
c

_

M
n

_

,

where K n is a modal stiffness of the shaft and the at least one contact bearing and M n is modal mass of the shaft and the at least one contact bearing, and
controlling a restoring force applied to the shaft by changing the variable stiffness of the at least one non-contact bearing to the restoring stiffness.

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Plc

Inventors

• Ciciriello Lucia
• King Mark S

Classifications

• F02C6/00

  Plural gas-turbine plants; Combinations of gas-turbine plants with other apparatus; Adaptations of gas-turbine plants for special use · CPC title

• F16C32/0444

  Details of devices to control the actuation of the electromagnets · CPC title

• F16C17/02

  for radial load only · CPC title

• F16C32/0446

  Determination of the actual position of the moving member, e.g. details of sensors · CPC title

• F16C17/03

  with tiltably-supported segments, e.g. Michell bearings {(hydrostatic bearings with tiltably supported bearing pads F16C32/0666; made from a plurality of rods F16C33/26; with flexible leaves F16C17/024; hydrodynamic bearings with chambers F16C33/1075)} · CPC title