Numerical Modelling and Analysis of Hydrostatic Thrust Air Bearings for High Loading Capacities and Low Air Consumption

3rd International Conference on Mechanical Engineering and Automation Science

机械制造;无线电电子学

Yu, Yunluo^1 ; Pu, Guang^1 ; Jiang, Kyle^1

University of Birmingham, Birmingham

B15 2TT, United Kingdom^1

关键词: Air consumption;    Air film thickness;    Design parameters;    Finitedifference methods (FDM);    Loading capacities;    Numerical modelling and analysis;    Numerical simulation studies;    Thrust air bearings;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/280/1/012005/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/280/1/012005

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

The paper presents a numerical simulation study on hydrostatic thrust air bearings to assess the load capacity, compressed air consumptions, and the dynamic response. Finite Difference Method (FDM) and Finite Volume Method (FVM) are combined to solve the non-linear Reynolds equation to find the pressure distribution of the air bearing gas film and the total loading capacity of the bearing. The influence of design parameters on air film gap characteristics, including the air film thickness, supplied pressure, depth of the groove and external load, are investigated based on the proposed FDM model. The simulation results show that the thrust air bearings with a groove have a higher load capacity and air consumption than without a groove, and the load capacity and air consumption both increase with the depth of the groove. Bearings without the groove are better damped than those with the grooves, and the stability of thrust bearing decreases when the groove depth increases. The stability of the thrust bearings is also affected by their loading.