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Performance analysis of air foil thrust bearings with different top foil taper heights

  • School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology
  • School of Astronautics, Harbin Institute of Technology
  • China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The foil structural 2-D thin plate model of bump type air foil thrust bearing was created, finite difference method (FDM) and finite element method (FEM) were coupled together to solve the compressible air Reynolds equation and film thickness equation. The bearing performance such as pressure distribution, film thickness, top foil deformation and power loss were obtained in specific bearing load condition, and the effects of taper height on bearing performance were studied by comparing simulation results with 25, 70, 100, 200, 300 μm taper heights. The results show that reducing taper height can make pressure distribution more uniform and reduce the concentrated force on top foil. However, with an optimum value, the bearing can maximize the minimum film thickness for the required same load capacity. Also the bearing can realize the lowest power loss, and the bearing efficiency is improved. These results can be treated as a guideline of air foil thrust bearing design.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3064-3072
Number of pages9
JournalHangkong Dongli Xuebao/Journal of Aerospace Power
Volume31
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Air foil thrust bearing
  • Minimum film thickness
  • Power loss
  • Taper height
  • Top foil deformation

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