Air Bearings Theory, Design and Applications

Abstract

It is hard to imagine any machine that could operate over a prolonged length of time without a lubricant. Thus, it is fortuitous that air, with its ubiquitous abundance, can function in this capacity. This is not intuitively obvious, particularly when one deals with parallel surfaces in a thrust bearing. Late Professor Fuller—in his book on the theory and practice of lubrication for engineers, also published by Wiley in 1984—shows the picture of a small thrust bearing with three shoes that can support a 4 lb (17.8 N) thrust runner 5 in. (12.7 cm) in diameter. By simply spinning the runner by hand, one can show that bearing can ride on a thin layer of air for a long time. Running this simple experiment in a classroom has become an eye-opening experience for our engineering students.