When designing a turbomachine, particularly one which is to operate at high speed, it is important to be able to predict the fluid-induced forces, both steady and unsteady, acting on the various components of the machine. This paper concentrates on the fluid-induced rotordynamic forces acting upon the impeller and therefore on the bearings. Self-excited whirl, where the rotor moves away from and whirls along a trajectory eccentric to its undeflected position, can result from these fluid-induced forces. The purpose of the present work is to study the full range of these forces so that they can be included in any rotordynamic analysis at the design stage.
To study the fluid-induced rotordynamic force on an impeller vibrating around its machine axis of rotation, an experiment in forced vibration was conducted. The prescribed whirl trajectory of the rotor is a circular orbit of a fixed radius. A rotating dynamometer mounted behind the rotor measures the force on the impeller. The force measured is a combination of a steady radial force due to volute asymmetries and an unsteady force due to the eccentric motion of the rotor. These measurements have been conducted over a full range of whirl/impeller speed ratios at different flow coefficients for various turbomachines including both centrifugal impellers aand axial inducers. A destabilizing force was observed over a region of positive whirl ratio. The range of flow conditions includes an examination of the effects of cavitation on the observed rotordynamic forces
