A program for tests on rotor dynamics was planned for the turbo-machine of the Gas Turbine High Temperature Reactor (GTHTR300). The rotor system of the turbo-machine consists of a turbo-compressor rotor and a generator rotor connected with a flexible coupling, each suspended with two radial magnetic bearings. The rotors, which are flexible rotors, pass over the critical speeds of bending mode. The magnetic bearing is required to have a high load capacity, about 10 times larger than any built thus far to support a flexible rotor. In the rotor design, the standard limit of the vibration amplitude of 75μm at the rated rotational speed of 3, 600rpm was fulfilled by optimizing the stiffness of the magnetic bearings.
A test apparatus was designed to verify the design of the magnetic bearing suspended turbo-machine rotor of the GTHTR300. The test apparatus is composed of 1/3-scale test rotors, which are connected with a flexible coupling and driven by a variable speed motor. The test magnetic bearing was designed within the state-of-the-art technology to have a load capacity about 1/10 of that of the actual one. The test rotors were designed to closely simulate the critical speeds and vibration modes of the actual ones.
This paper shows the test apparatus and the test plan for the magnetic bearing suspended rotor system. The present study is entrusted from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.
