Approximate Analytical Model for Oil Film Force of Finite Length Squeeze Film Damper Under Low Reynolds Number

Squeeze film dampers (SFDs) are widely used in aero-engines and other high speed rotating machines as damping elements, owing to their remarkable damping effect. The oil-film force model of SFDs is the key to investigate the dynamic characteristics of the rotor-bearing systems involving SFDs. In this paper, the analytical solution of the oil film pressure of a finite length SFD is obtained by employing the separation of variables method to solve the Reynolds equation (at low Reynolds number) based upon the dynamic π boundary condition. The analytical expression of the oil film force is then derived by applying the integral method. The oil film force from the analytical model is compared with the results from other well-known methods, i.e. the long bearing approximation, the short bearing approximation and the finite difference method. The results clearly show that within a wider length-diameter ratio range, the newly proposed model can accurately predict the oil film characteristics of the SFDs at low Reynolds numbers.© 2013 ASME