An Experimental Study of the Dynamic Behavior of Foil Bearings

Abstract

This paper describes an experiment performed to verify the theory for the response of an infinitely wide, perfectly flexible foil to small sinusoidal variations in its tension, as developed in reference [3]. A fixed foil with a rotating drum was used. The tension was oscillated by varying the pressure in a loop of foil at one end with a fixed support at the other. The height of the foil from the drum was measured with a capacitance probe. The results agree substantially with reference [3] especially as to frequency and decay rate of the waves in the foil. However, the theory does not consider the effects of standing waves which can occur in the sections of foil between the supports and drum.