2D Simulation of the Aerodynamic Micro Air Journal Bearing for Micro Gas Turbine Engine

Abstract

A micro air journal bearing for micro gas turbine engine is designed in this paper. 2D simulation of the aerodynamic micro air bearing is conducted to investigate the effect of the main parameters of the air bearing on the load capacity, including the clearance between the air bearing and shaft, the gear number and height of the air journal bearing, the rotational speed of rotor. The optimum value of the important parameters are explored and presented. The time correlation method is used to solve the RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) equations. Requirements both from load capacity and motion stability is considered and compromised for a better and stable performance of the air journal bearing. The shaft is stably rotated in a relatively low speed of 1.18×105rpm, which is much lower than other researches and can be achieved easily.