HOW TO OBTAIN STIFFNESS AND DAMPING COEFFICIENTS OF GAS-BEARINGS

Gas bearings are an element of many modern machines. In analyzing the motion of such machines, it is convenient to represent the dynamic cha racteristics of gas bearings by means of stiffness and damping coeffic ients of their gas film. The present paper describes a method of the d etermination of linear and nonlinear stiffness and damping coefficient s of gas bearings. In the identification procedure of these coefficien ts the gas bearing is represented by a mathematical model based on the Reynolds equation and on a system of equations describing gas flow th rough the feeding system. The damping coefficients thus determined are functions of the bearing parameters, of the external loading force, a s well as of the angular velocity of the journal and its vibration fre quency.