Aerostatic shallow pocket thrust bearing

Aerostatic thrust bearing fed through an inherent orifice restrictor

Diameter bearing 2R0

10^-3 m

Diameter orifice 2R1=d_test

10^-3 m

Film thickness h0

10^-6 m

Supply pressure pS

10⁶ Pa

Ambient pressure pA

10⁶ Pa

Pressure factor β

Coefficient of discharge Cd

Pressure ratio pR/pS

Load capacity F^*

Flow rate M

10^-6 kg/s

Diameter orifice d

10^-3 m

Load capacity F

Axial stiffness S=-dF/dh

10⁶ N/m

Flow rate Q

l/min

d_test: The diameter of the inherent orifice restrictor is to be calculated iteratively. In the first step the load capacity and flow are calculated with the outer diameter of the bearing and the diameter of the orifice 2R1=d_test prescribed (equation 12.6 of the book). Next the diameter of the orifice is derived from the calculated flow (equation 12.4) and should be the same as d_test, if not, d_test is to be adapted in this calculator manually.

h0: The highest axial bearing stiffness, self-aligning capability and the minimal flow is obtained with the smallest film thickness. The required film thickness depends on bearing deflections and flatness of the bearing surface and is usually related to the bearing size.