Aerostatic Thrust Bearing Combining Silicone Restrictor with Flexible Disk under Circumferential Support for High Static Stiffness

ABSTRACT

A passively compensated aerostatic thrust bearing of great static stiffness is proposed. It is composed of a silicone restrictor and a flexible metal disk supported circumferentially near the disk edge. The bent disk forms a concave bearing surface to hold the air pressure. The softer silicone capillary in the restrictor expands easily to adjust the air flux and the harder silicone layer at the restrictor bottom helps achieve higher inlet pressure. The Taguchi method showed that for bearing elevations between 8 and 10 μm, the optimal static stiffness can reach 538 N/μm, compared to 15 N/μm of the conventional type. The load capacity also levels up from 390 to 1,400 N at elevation of 8 μm.

KEYWORDS:

• Aerostatic
• thrust bearing
• silicone
• static stiffness

Funding

Support from the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Science and Technology under grant 102-2221-E-224-014-MY3 is acknowledged.