Abstract
Relative vertical motions between two planes produce load carrying capacity, called squeeze effect. Compressive squeeze air films generated by oscillation of piezoelectric actuators suspend the rotating shaft. Because it requires no air supply, squeeze bearings are applicable to special situation where any air flows in/out have to be avoided. In this study, the active squeeze bearing is proposed, which corrects the motion errors of rotating shaft application of controllable piezo-driving patterns allows the shaft manipulation. In this paper, the air film characteristics are investigated experimentally for a prototype model with two circular plates of 15mm in radius as oscillating pads. The squeeze air film was able to support the object against the external load of 4.9N with a mean film thickness of 5.5μm. It had the capability to support an external load up to 9.8N with a stiffness of 1.8N/μm. By constructing a simple feedback system, the object was manipulated accurately without contact.
