Experimental validation of a bearing wear model using the directional response of the rotor-bearing system

The present work gives continuity in the analysis of the wear influence on cylindrical hydrodynamic bearings by presenting an experimental validation of the wear model previously proposed by the authors. This validation is carried on using the frequency response of the rotor-bearings system in directional coordinates. For this purpose, a test rig was assembled in order to evaluate the behavior of the rotating system when supported by hydrodynamic bearings with different wear patterns. The experimental measurements are used to validate the wear model, comparing the anisotropy influence on the experimental and numerical responses. The simulated directional frequency responses showed a good agreement with the experimental ones, demonstrating the potential of the proposed wear model in satisfactorily represent its influence on the rotor-bearings system response in the frequency range where the numerical model was validated.