Abstract
A novel ultrasonic levitating bearing excited by three piezoelectric transducers is presented in this work. The transducers are circumferentially equispaced in a housing, with their center lines going through the rotation center of a spindle. This noncontact bearing has the ability to self-align and carry radical and axial loads simultaneously. A finite element model of the bearing is built in ANSYS, and modal analysis and harmonious response analysis are conducted to investigate its characteristics and driving parameters. Based on nonlinear acoustic theory and a thermodynamic theory of ideal gas, the radical and lateral load-carrying models are built to predict the bearing’s carrying capacity. In order to validate the bearing’s levitation force, a test system is established and levitating experiments are conducted. The experimental data match well with the theoretical results. The experiments reveal that the maximum radical and axial levitating loads of the proposed bearing are about 15 N and 6 N, respectively, when the piezoelectric transducers operate at a working frequency of 16.11 kHz and a voltage of 150 Vp-p.
Highlights
Many sophisticated power machines and equipment such as high-speed precision machine tools, aero-engines, and micro gas turbines (MGT) demand greater bearing performance in terms of high-speed capacity, precision, reliability, longevity, low noise, etc. [1,2,3]
Gas pumps and pipelines are absolutely necessary for hydrostatic bearings, which results in high operation costs and bulky systems [6]
The material of the horn the resonance frequency of the transducer is determined by modal analysis
Summary
Many sophisticated power machines and equipment such as high-speed precision machine tools, aero-engines, and micro gas turbines (MGT) demand greater bearing performance in terms of high-speed capacity, precision, reliability, longevity, low noise, etc. [1,2,3]. Levitation height of of ultrasonic bearings canThe be controlled at the micron level, which bearing is simple, and does not cause electromagnetic interference to sensitive electronic can meet precision requirements. Elastic hinges can magnify the vibration amplitude under excitation of PZT (piezoelectric first proposed a novel ultrasonic linear bearing based on elastic hinges and piezoelectric ceramic ceramics of PbZr03-PbTiO3 system) stacks, they bring about structural complexity and high stacks. The and Ha et al presented a new kind of journal800 bearing, levitation improved linear bearing can suspend anultrasonic object weighing g at awhich heightintegrates of a few ultrasonic micrometers with hydrodynamic lubrication aimed at solving the wear problem of aerodynamic bearings [16,17]. Each of the three transducers diameter of 50 mm hadcarrying been successfully levitated drivenpower at lowof rotational speed.Zhigang
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