Study on Externally Pressurized Gas Bearings with Infinite Stiffness (2nd Report)

Experiments on the Static Characteristics of a Circular Thrust Bearing

Abstract

A new type of externally pressurized infinite stiffness gas bearing is proposed. This bearing is constructed with a movable bush, a spring plate and two restrictors in series. The configuration of the bearing, working principle and the analysis of the static characteristics are presented in the previous paper. This paper describes the construction of a circular thrust bearing and experimental results of the static characteristics. Experimental results show a good agreement with the analytical values and it is proved that the bearing has infinite stiffness.