Abstract Low damping characteristics have always been a key sticking points in the development of gas bearings. The application of squeeze film dampers can significantly improve the damping performance of gas lubricated bearings. This paper proposed a novel hermetic diaphragm squeeze film damper (HDSFD) for oil-free turbomachinery supported by gas lubricated bearings. Several types of HDSFDs with symmetrical structure were proposed for good damping performance. By considering the compressibility of the damper fluid, based on hydraulic fluid mechanics theory, a dynamic model of HDSFDs under medium is proposed, which successfully reflects the frequency dependence of force coefficients. Based on the dynamic model, the effects of damper fluid viscosity, bulk modulus of damper fluid, thickness of damper fluid film and plunger thickness on the dynamic stiffness and damping of HDSFDs were analyzed. An experimental test rig was assembled and series of experimental studies on HDSFDs were conducted. The damper fluid transverse flow is added to the existing HDSFD concept, which aims to make the dynamic force coefficients independent of frequency. Although the force coefficient is still frequency dependent, the damping coefficient at high frequency excitation with damper fluid supply twice as that without damper fluid supply. The results serve as a benchmark for the calibration of analytical tools under development.

Theoretical and Experimental Study on the Performance of Hermetic Diaphragm Squeeze Film Dampers for Gas-Lubricated Bearings