Patent ID: 8616848

Claim:
A damping structure in a turbomachine rotor having a rotor disk and a plurality of blades, the damping structure comprising: an elongated snubber structure including a first snubber end rigidly attached to a first blade and extending toward an adjacent second blade, and an opposite second snubber end defining a first engagement surface positioned adjacent to a second engagement surface associated with the second blade; the snubber structure having a centerline extending radially inwardly in a direction from the first blade toward the second blade along at least a portion of the snubber structure between the first and second snubber ends; including a midway point between the first and second blades, and a radial thickness of the snubber structure decreases progressively extending from each of the blades to the midway point; and wherein rotational movement of the rotor effects relative movement between the second snubber end and the second engagement surface to position the first engagement surface of the second snubber end in frictional engagement with the second engagement surface with a predetermined damping force determined by a centrifugal force on the snubber structure.