Abstract
To improve the stiffness of externally pressurized gas bearings, a controlled feeding restricter by changing the slot clearance with PZT is proposed. Signal from a position sensor acts on a voltage controller of the PZT drive. When the bearing clearance is decreased by increasing in bearing load, the slot clearance is increased by shrinking of PZT and the bearing clearance will be recovered. The static characteristics of the bearing is analysed and it is shown that the bearing has high stiffness and that the bearing shows infinite stiffness when the slot clearance is appropriately controlled.
