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Performance of Simple Gas Foil Thrust Bearings in AirFoil bearings are self-acting hydrodynamics devices used to support high speed rotating machinery. The advantages that they offer to process fluid lubricated machines include: high rotational speed capability, no auxiliary lubrication system, non-contacting high speed operation, and improved damping as compared to rigid hydrodynamic bearings. NASA has had a sporadic research program in this technology for almost 6 decades. Advances in the technology and understanding of foil journal bearings have enabled several new commercial products in recent years. These products include oil-free turbochargers for both heavy trucks and automobiles, high speed electric motors, microturbines for distributed power generation, and turbojet engines. However, the foil thrust bearing has not received a complimentary level of research and therefore has become the weak link of oil-free turbomachinery. In an effort to both provide machine designers with basic performance parameters and to elucidate the underlying physics of foil thrust bearings, NASA Glenn Research Center has completed an effort to experimentally measure the performance of simple gas foil thrust bearing in air. The database includes simple bump foil supported thrust bearings with full geometry and manufacturing techniques available to the user. Test conditions consist of air at ambient pressure and temperatures up to 500 C and rotational speeds to 55,000 rpm. A complete set of axial load, frictional torque, and rotational speed is presented for two different compliant sub-structures and inter-pad gaps. Data obtained from commercially available foil thrust bearings both with and without active cooling is presented for comparison. A significant observation made possible by this data set is the speed-load capacity characteristic of foil thrust bearings. Whereas for the foil journal bearing the load capacity increases linearly with rotational speed, the foil thrust bearing operates in the hydrodynamic high speed limit. In this case, the load capacity is constant and in fact often decreases with speed if other factors such as thermal conditions and runner distortions are permitted to dominate the bearing performance.
Document ID
20120003368
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Technical Memorandum (TM)
Authors
Bruckner, Robert J.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
February 1, 2012
Subject Category
Fluid Mechanics And Thermodynamics
Report/Patent Number
E-18016
NASA/TM-2012-217262
Report Number: E-18016
Report Number: NASA/TM-2012-217262
Meeting Information
Meeting: Supercritical CO2 Power Cycle Symposium
Location: Boulder, CO
Country: United States
Start Date: May 24, 2011
End Date: May 25, 2011
Sponsors: Colorado Univ.
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 877868.02.07.03.01.03.04
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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