Durability and Stability Analysis of Compliant Foil Journal Bearings with Elastic Support Using Different Surface Treatments

Abstract

The durability and stability characteristics of compliant foil journal bearings with elastic support are discussed in this paper. Using different choices for surface treatment of foil materials and foil element geometry parameters, the start-stop cycle and the rotor-bearing system dynamic characteristics of a compliant foil bearing (CFB) were experimentally studied. This CFB with elastic support can steadily run the turbo expander with a 25.0-mm-diameter rotor revolving at 14.8 × 10 ⁴ rpm and has excellent performance in terms of stability and durability. The test results indicate that with suitable bearing structure parameters, foil materials and application of the surface treatment of this type of CFB is appropriate for high-speed turbo machinery.

KEY WORDS:

• Foil Bearings
• Journal Bearings
• Gas Lubrication
• Stability
• Surface Treatments

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project was supported by a Program for New Century Excellent Talents at the University of China (NCET-05-0834) and a Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT0746). The authors would also like to thank Mr. G. J. Liu of Suzhou Oxygen Plant Manufactory for supplying the experiment parts.

Review led by Gita Talmage