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

在这项研究中，一个平面推力轴承的开发，积极利用滑流产生的疏水（高疏水）表面。为了产生负载，该轴承具有通过利用疏水表面和未处理或亲水表面之间的剪切流率的不连续性来产生压力流的结构。这种结构导致在其表面中没有几何变化的完全平的轴承。这种部分防水推力轴承运行良好，摩擦系数低且稳定（小于0.002）。润滑表面没有任何损伤，因为两个表面被流体膜隔开，这使得能够避免固体接触。对于在两个部分之间具有大的接触角（因此，剪切流率）差的轴承，摩擦系数变得较低。此外，防水部分和亲水部分具有相同面积的轴承的摩擦系数最低，并且摩擦系数变得大于其值，无论是在宽防水部分还是窄防水部分的情况下。这些结果表明，这种推力轴承的工作机制与流体润滑下的传统轴承相同的可能性。

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.