Amplitude effects on the dynamic performance of hydrostatic gas thrust bearings

A strip gas film bearing with inherently compensated inlets is analyzed to determine the effect of disturbance amplitude on its dynamic performance. The governing Reynolds' equation is solved using finite-difference techniques. The time dependent load capacity is represented by a Fourier series up to and including the third harmonics. For the range of amplitudes investigated the linear stiffness was independent of the amplitude, and the linear damping was inversely proportional to (1 - epsilon-squared) to the 1.5 power where epsilon is the amplitude relative to the film thickness.