GOALI: Analysis, Design, and Testing of Profiled Hydrostatic Thrust Bearings

这项学术与工业联系机会(GOALI)奖为改进静压推力轴承的性能提供资金。众所周知，这些轴承经历了小范围和大范围的变形，这些变形会显著降低轴承的承载能力。不太为人所知的是，某些类型的轴承变形实际上可以增加承载能力！在这项研究中，将使用分析、数值和实验技术来研究这些有利的变形。这项工作的目标将是制定设计准则，可用于确保有益的变形，同时也保证不发生有害的变形。轴承和推力面之间的液膜厚度将根据滑动速度、轴承的结构特性、流体条件和动力源限制进行优化。进行这些调查的一种方法将是研究故意对轴承表面进行仿形以实现最佳轴承性能的影响。优化后的外形几何形状和预期的轴承被动变形将被用来明确先进轴承设计的设计要求。如果成功，这项研究工作将用于显著提高在机械设计应用中广泛使用的静压推力轴承的性能。性能的提高将体现在更高的承载能力和更低的功率需求上。第二个影响将是通过消除轴承和推力面之间金属对金属接触的可能性来减少磨损和延长预期寿命。从这项工作中产生的设计指南可以用来更新这些广泛使用的机械元件的经典教科书理论。通过这样做，改进的机械设计实践将在工程界传播，并将实现显著减少浪费和提高生产率。

This Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) award provides funding for improving the performance of a hydrostatic thrust bearing. It is well known that these bearings undergo both small and large scale deformations and that these deformations can significantly reduce the load-carrying capacity of the bearing. What has been less well known is that certain types of bearing deformation can actually increase the load-carrying capacity! In this research, these advantageous deformations will be investigated using analytical, numerical, and experimental techniques. The objectives of this work will be to develop design guidelines that may be used to ensure beneficial deformations while also guaranteeing that harmful deformations do not occur. The fluid-film thickness between the bearing and the thrust surface will be optimized based upon sliding speed, structural properties of the bearing, fluid conditions, and power source limitations. A method for conducting these investigations will be to study the impact of intentionally profiling the bearing surface to achieve optimal bearing performance. The optimized profile geometry, coupled with the expected passive deformation of the bearing, will be used to specify the design requirements for the advanced bearing design.If successful, the work of this research will be used to significantly enhance the performance of hydrostatic thrust bearings that are widely used in mechanical design applications. The improved performance will be demonstrated in higher load-carrying capacities and lower power requirements. A secondary impact will be to reduce wear and increase life expectancies by eliminating the potential for metal-to-metal contact between the bearing and the thrust surface. The design guidelines that are generated from this work may be used to update the classical textbook theory that exists for these widely used machine elements. By doing this, improved machine design practices will be disseminated among the engineering community and a significant reduction in waste and an increase in productivity will be realized.