Simple bearing structure employed a slip flow on water-repellent (high water-repellent) surface

在这项研究中，通过主动利用在防水(高防水)表面上产生的滑移流，开发了一种平板推力轴承。为了产生载荷，该轴承具有一种结构，该结构通过利用防水表面和未经处理的表面或亲水表面之间的剪切流率的不连续性来产生压力流。这种结构的结果是完全平坦的轴承，其表面没有几何变化。这种部分憎水推力轴承运行良好，摩擦系数低且稳定(小于0.002)。润滑面完全没有损伤，因为两面都用液膜隔开，避免了固体接触。两部分接触角(剪切流量)相差较大的轴承摩擦系数较小。而且，憎水部分和亲水部分面积相同的轴承的摩擦系数最小，并且无论是宽的拒水部分还是窄的拒水部分，摩擦系数都大于其值。这些结果表明，这种推力轴承的工作原理可能与传统的流体润滑轴承相同。

In this study, a flat thrust bearing is developed by active exploiting the slip flow generated on a water-repellent (high water-repellent) surface. In order to produce a load, this bearing has a structure that generates a pressure flow by using the discontinuity of shear flow rate between a water-repellent surface and an untreated or a hydrophilic surface. This structure results in the completely flat bearing that has no geometrical variations in its surface. This partial water-repellent thrust bearing functioned well with a low and stable friction coefficient (less than 0.002). And lubrication surfaces had no damages at all because both surfaces are separated with fluid film which enables to avoid the solid contact. The friction coefficient became lower for the bearing having large difference of contact angle (thus, shear flow rate) between both parts. Furthermore, a friction coefficient for the bearing of which water-repellent part and hydrophilic part had same area was the lowest, and friction coefficient became larger than its value in case of not only wide water-repellent part but also narrow one. These results suggest a possibility that this thrust bearing operates by the same mechanism as a conventional bearing under fluid lubrication.