Theoretical Study of Hydrostatic Thrust Bearings

Abstract

The load capacity of hydrostatic bearings can be increased by making a pocket which keeps effective fluid pressure on the bearing surface, and their dynamic stability can be improved by arranging a suitable restrictor like a capillary or an orifice which corresponds to the bearing dimensions and the optimum clearance in the fluid supply-line. In this report, concerning three types of thrust bearings which have the bearing surface of sphere, disc or cone, the theoretical solutions of rressure distribution, quantity of flow, load capacity and power consumption are obtained. Depending on the above solutions, it is clarified that the bearing clearance should be determined by the dimensions of the restrictor. Therefore, the desiging factors of the bearing concerning the clearance, the restrictor, the pocket and supplying fluid pressure have been investigated taking into consideration the conditions of the best dynamic stability, the maximum load capacity and the minimum power consumption.