Design, fabrication, and performance of foil journal bearing for the brayton rotating unit

Foil bearings were designed and manufactured to replace pivoted-shoe journal bearings in an existing Brayton Cycle turbo-alternator-compressor. The design of this unconventional rotor support was accomplished within the constraints and space limitations imposed by the present machine, and the substitution of foil bearings was effected without changes or modification other machine components. A housing and a test rig were constructed to incorporate the new foil-bearing support into a unified assemble with an air-driven rotor and the gimbal-mounted thrust bearing, seals, and shrouds of an actual Brayton Rotating Unit. The foil bearing required no external pressure source, and stable self-acting rotation was achieved at all speeds up to 43,200 rpm. Excellent wipe-wear characteristics of the foil bearing permitted well over 1000 start-stop cycles with no deterioriation of performance in the entire speed range.