Nonlinear Study of Industrial Arc Spring Dampers

The objective of this paper is to present a numerical approach for analyzing parameter excited vibrations on a gas compressor, induced by the nonlinear characteristic of the arc spring feature of certain designs of squeeze film dampers, SFDs. The behavior of the journal is studied in preparation for varying the damping characteristics of the SFD as well as the dynamic forces acting on the SFD.

Phase plane orbits together with Poincar´e maps are given for different arc spring damping and static and dynamic load cases. Besides, bifurcation diagrams as a function of the arc spring damping and forces acting on the SFD are presented. It is worth mentioning, that the maps and diagrams can be used as design guidance.

Finally, a comparison between the numerical results and experimental result is facilitated in form of waterfall diagrams. For this, a full scale model of the arc-spring damper was designed and build.