Experimental validation of friction models for surface contacts with X22CrMoV12-1

Abstract The design of steam turbine blades of the low-pressure stage requires dampening mechanisms to mitigate the vibration of such long blades. It is very common to rely on friction to dissipate the vibration energy of these blades. For this reason, friction models are important for designing such blades and to predict their behavior and structural integrity. This work presents an experimental validation of five different friction models that can be used in numerical simulations of steam turbine blades made of steel alloy X22CrMoV12-1: Coulomb with stiction, Coulomb with Stribeck effect, Bengisu and Akay, LuGre, and the elastoplastic model. The models are compared to experimental data obtained from a test rig under different operating conditions of normal force and relative velocity of the surfaces. The results show that the Coulomb-based models are similar, and they agree well with experimental data for operating conditions of normal forces greater than the static friction forces. When the stick–slip phenomenon is significant, the LuGre and the elasto-plastic models have a better correlation to the experimental data.