The Static and Dynamic Characteristics of the Spiral-Grooved Thrust Bearing

Abstract

A generalized analysis for spiral-grooved thrust bearings is presented. The effects of local radius are considered. For the same grooving geometry and the same inside-to-outside radius ratio, the inflow design is shown to be superior in both stiffness and load capacity. The analysis also treats a relative, transverse, oscillatory motion of the bearing surfaces. Both the magnitude and phase angle (in the temporal sense) of the bearing reaction are dependent on the frequency of the motion. The results for the oscillating motion reveal the possibility of a self-excited, rotor-bearing instability. The criterion for determining the onset of this type of instability is given.