Cost-Effective Design Modification of a Sleeve Bearing with Large Bearing Clearance

In 2015, a 45 MW vertical hydropower machine exhibited excessive vibration after refurbishment. Measurements revealed a substantial bearing clearance at the lower generator guide bearing. Consequently, the bearing was unable to generate sufficient opposing force to drive the rotor toward the bearing center, resulting in more pronounced overall system vibration. Addressing this challenge required a cost-effective and feasible solution for mitigating the vibration problem. To this end, a design modification was implemented wherein the lower generator guide bearing (originally a sleeve bearing) was modified to a four-lobe bearing by offsetting the two halves of the bearing twice in two axes. Numerical simulations and experimentations were conducted, and the dynamics of the machine before and after the design modification were investigated. Both the simulation and experimental results showed that the machine with the four-lobe bearing improved the system stability and reduced the vibration amplitudes. The numerical simulation result demonstrated that, due to the design modification, the first and second critical speeds were effectively eliminated for a speed range of up to three times the nominal speed. Furthermore, for nominal operation with unbalanced magnetic pull, the four-lobe bearing provided a stability advantage in terms of the modal parameters relative to the original sleeve bearing.