Abstract
Hydrostatic bearings are generally used for the spindle and the guide-way of the ultra-precision machine tools. The restrictors of the hydrostatic bearings are the key component determining its performance, such as the load capacity as well as stiffness. The restrictors can be divided into the orifice, capillary and short pipe. The present paper describes a design of the restrictor of the hydrostatic bearing so that the stiffness of the bearing can be maximized. In this paper, a typical thrust bearing structure is chosen as an example for consideration. In particular, an influence of the model of the restrictor on the bearing stiffness is considered. Then, the design results for each restrictor are compared.
