Performance comparison between aerostatic bearings with orifice and porous restrictors based on parameter optimization

Abstract

ABSTRACT The performance of aerostatic bearing mainly depends on the throttling effect of its restrictor. The orifice and porous material are the most common restrictors, which have their own advantages and suitable working conditions. At present, there are many studies on the performance comparison of bearings with the two types of restrictors, but almost all of them are carried out on the premise of the determined restrictor parameters, the results of the comparison will vary greatly due to the different restrictor parameters. In order to avoid this problem, the CFD software was used to simulate the flow field in the film based on the theory of gas lubrication. The dynamic and static characteristics of the two kinds of bearings were obtained, and the optimal restrictor parameters were optimized. Based on parameter optimization, the bearing performances were analysed and compared. The study reveals that for the single-restrictor aerostatic bearing, the use of porous restrictor can make the bearing obtain superior dynamic and static performances; For the multi-restrictor aerostatic bearing, the use of the orifice restrictor can make the bearing obtain quite high stiffness, but the use of the porous restrictor can enable the bearing to achieve a considerably high load capacity.