A Calculation Method to Investigate the Effects of Geometric Parameters and Operational Conditions on the Static Characteristics of Aerostatic Spherical Bearings

Abstract

In this paper, a calculation method based on matlab partial differential equations (PDE) tool is proposed to investigate the static characteristics of aerostatic spherical bearings. The Reynolds equation of aerostatic spherical bearings is transformed into a standard elliptic equation. The effects of geometric parameters and operational conditions on the film pressure, bearing film force, and stiffness are studied. The axial and radial eccentricities result in different film pressure distributions; the bearing film force and stiffness are significantly influenced by geometric parameters and operational conditions. The relative optimal parameters are confirmed based on the calculation results. A comparison between the numerical and experimental results is also presented. The highest relative error between the numerical results and the experimental data is 11.3%; the calculation results show good agreements with the experimental data, thus verifying the accuracy of the calculation method used in this paper.