FE Lubrication Analysis and Dynamic Characteristics of Herringbone Groove Air Bearing applied to High-Speed Color Wheel

In this study is performed a complex lubrication analysis of a herringbone groove air journal bearing, which shows a big potential as an oilless bearing for a color wheel used as an original color source for a large DLP projection television and rotating at a rated-speed of 10,800 rpm. The Galerkin FE and perturbation methods are used for a lubrication analysis of the bearing. The effects of groove number, angle and depth and bearing clearance on the dynamic stability of the bearing are investigated in terms of the critical mass, and its equilibrium positions, stiffness and damping coefficients are calculated at various rotating speeds. Results have shown that the designed herringbone groove air journal bearing is quite suitable as a support bearing for the considered high-speed color wheel in terms of the complex lubrication performances of the bearing itself.