Symmetric Radial Laminar Channel Flow With Particular Reference to Aerostatic Bearings

Abstract

After a short survey of the different methods and formulas used to determine the pressure distribution in radial (converging or diverging) flow between nominally parallel discs, the method of “separation of variables,” established in reference [1], is applied to the problem, especially the case pertaining to centrally fed circular aerostatic bearings. The results are compared extensively with experimental data from various sources and the agreement is found to be remarkably good, suggesting that a laminar flow model is sufficient in characterizing the flow over a wide range of Reynolds number values.