EFFECTS OF OPERATING-CONDITIONS AND SUPPLY HOLE DIAMETER ON THE PERFORMANCE OF A RECTANGULAR AEROSTATIC BEARING

The present study is an experimental investigation of the performance characteristics of an externally pressurized rectangular recessed gas bearing operating under different working conditions. It includes the measurements of pressure, load carrying capacity, and mass flow rate. The experiments covered a wide range of film thicknesses and supply pr essures. In addition, pads of different supply hole diameters were use d. The results obtained from the present investigation show that the e ffect of varying the supply hole diameter on bearing performance is si gnificant. Increasing the supply hole diameter to bearing length ratio has the effect of increasing the recess pressure and load carrying ca pacity. Further, as the supply pressure and/or film thickness increase s the dimensionless load carrying capacity decreases and the lubricant mass flow rate increases. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.