• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.46-54
• /
• 2015

Thrust-ring-pump is a kind of extreme-low specific speed centrifugal pump with special structure as numerous restrictions from thrust bearing and operation conditions of hydro-generator units. Because the oil circulatory and cooling system with thrust-ring-pump has a lot of advantages in maintenance and compactness in structure, it has widely been used in large and medium-sized hydro-generator units. Since the diameter and the speed of the thrust ring is limited by the generator set, the matching relationship between the flow passage inside the thrust ring (equivalent to impeller) and oil bath (equivalent to volute) has great influence on hydrodynamic performance of thrust-ring-pump. On another hand, the head and flow rate are varying with the operation conditions of hydro-generator units and the oil circulatory and cooling system. As so far, the empirical calculation method is employed during the actual engineering design, in order to guarantee the operating performance of the oil circulatory and cooling system with thrust-ring-pump at different conditions, a collaborative hydrodynamic design and optimization is purposed in this paper. Firstly, the head and flow rate at different conditions are decided by 1D flow numerical simulation of the oil circulatory and cooling system. Secondly, the flow passages of thrust-ring-pump are empirically designed under the restrictions of diameter and the speed of the thrust ring according to the head and flow rate from the simulation. Thirdly, the flow passage geometry matching optimization between thrust ring and oil bath is implemented by means of 3D flow simulation and performance prediction. Then, the pumps and the oil circulatory and cooling system are collaborative hydrodynamic optimized with predicted head-flow rate curve and the efficiency-flow rate curve of thrust-ring-pump. The presented methodology has been adopted by DFEM in design process of thrust-ring-pump and it shown can effectively improve the performance of whole system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.4 s.181
• /
• pp.29-36
• /
• 2006

Micro drilling by high-speed air bearing spindle is very useful manufacturing technology in electronic industry For the design of high speed air bearing spindle, there are considered stability of air bearing spindle, allowable load of air bearing, run out and tooling system design for micro drill's attach and remove. According to suggested details, we designed and manufactured high-speed air bearing spindle and carried out performance estimation such as run out, temperature change in running air bearing spindle, stiffness, chucking torque. Results are follows; Run out was measured under $5{\mu}m$ at air bearing spindle revolution $20,000\sim125,000rpm$. High speed air bearing spindle's temperature rose about $20^{\circ}C$ after 5 minutes from running and then was fixed. Allowable thrust load of spindle was 17kgf. Chucking torque of collet was 15kgfcm.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.26-34
• /
• 1998

This paper presents a high-speed performance analysis of ball bearings with ceramic balls under thrust loads. The sliding velocity profiles between a ball and raceways were obtained by the 3-D quasi-dynamic equations of motion including both centrifugal force and gyroscopic moment derived by vector matrix algebra. The friction at the contact areas was obtained by the Bair-Winer's non-Newtonian rheological model and the Hamrock-Dowson's central film thickness in EHL analysis. The nonlinear equations were solved by the Newton-Raphson method and the underrelaxation iterative method. The friction torques and ball behaviors with various loads, ball materials, and contact angles were predicted by this model. It was shown that the friction torque was sensitive to thrust load and contact angle, and that the friction torque and the pitch angle of the bearing with ceramic balls are smaller than those of the bearing with steel balls.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.47-52
• /
• 1997

Friction torques, electrical contact resistances and bearing temperatures were measured on high speed angular contact ball beatings for the spindle of machine tools. The test bearings ran with oil-air lubrication at the thrust loads from 320 N to 1920 N and at the rotational speed of up to 12000 rpm. Electrical contact resistances between balls and races were measured to evaluate the formation of the lubricant film in the contact area. The test results with sufficient lubrication showed that the variations of friction torques were sensitive to the thrust loads and the rotational speeds, and that the friction torques were higher than those with insufficient lubrication. With insufficient lubrication and high thrust loads, the collapse of the lubricant film was detected even at a high rotational speed. It was concluded that these high speed beatings to run in condition of fluid lubrication should require monitoring not only the temperature increase of the bearing but also the lubricant film formation in contact areas resulting from the change in the applied load and the lubricant amount.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.19-24
• /
• 2008

We propose a new miniature air-bearing stage with a moving-magnet slotless linear motor. This stage was developed to achieve the precise positioning required for submicron-level machining and miniaturization by introducing air bearings and a linear motor sufficient for mesoscale precision machine tools. The linear motor contained two permanent magnets and was designed to generate a preload force for the vertical air bearings and a thrust force for the stage movement. The characteristics of the air bearings, which used porous pads, were analyzed with numerical methods, and a magnetic circuit model was derived for the linear motor to calculate the required preload and thrust forces. A prototype of a single-axis miniature stage with dimensions of $120\;(W)\;{\times}\;120\;(L)\;{\times}\;50\;(H)\;mm$ was designed and fabricated, and its performance was examined, including its vertical stiffness, load capacity, thrust force, and positioning resolution.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
• /
• v.16 no.7 s.112
• /
• pp.746-753
• /
• 2006

This paper proposes a method to calculate the stiffness and the damping coefficients of the coupled journal and thrust bearings. The Reynolds equations and their perturbation equations are transformed to the finite element equations by considering the continuity of pressure and flow at the interface between bearings. The Reynolds boundary condition is used in the numerical analysis to simulate the cavitation phenomena. The dynamic coefficients of the proposed method are compared with those of the numerical differentiation of the loads with respect to finite displacements and velocities of bearing center. It shows that the proposed method is more accurate and efficient than the differentiation method.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
• /
• 2006.05a
• /
• pp.666-671
• /
• 2006

This paper proposes a method to calculate the stiffness and the damping coefficients of the coupled journal and thrust bearings. The Reynolds equations and their perturbation equations are transformed to the finite element equations by considering the continuity of pressure and flow at the interface between bearings. The Reynolds boundary condition is used in the numerical analysis to simulate the cavitation phenomena. The dynamic coefficients of the proposed method are compared with those of the numerical differentiation of the loads with respect to finite displacements and velocities of bearing center. It shows that the proposed method is more accurate and efficient than the differentiation method.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.292-297
• /
• 2009

Air foil thrust bearings are the critical components available on high-efficiency turbomachinery which need an ability to endure the large axial force. Air foil bearings are self-acting hydrodynamic bearings that use ambient air as their lubricant. Since the air is squeezed by the edge of compliance-surface of bearing, hydrodynamic force is generated. In this study, we measured the air film thickness and obtained the minimum film thickness experimentally. To increase the maximum load capacity, compliance of sub-structure was controlled. From numerical analyses, it is seen that, if the air film thickness is distributed more uniformly by variable compliance, the thrust bearings can take more axial load.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.173-181
• /
• 2006

In the present study, we developed a numerical analysis software to predict performance of tilting-pad thrust bearings. The finite element method was adopted to compute lubricant film pressure and temperature. Three-dimensional heat transfer equations were solved simultaneously for the lubricant film, pad, and runner. Groove temperature was assumed with two different models. From application of the software to a thrust bearing, it has been seen that the three-dimensional analysis predicts higher temperature than the average temperature analysis. It has also been found that the groove model with a hot-oil-carry-over factor predicts higher temperature.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.17-23
• /
• 2024

This study analyzes the thermal effects on the performance of an air foil thrust bearing (AFTB) using COMSOL Multiphysics to approximate actual bearing behavior under real conditions. An AFTB is a sliding-thrust bearing that uses air as a lubricant to support the axial load. The AFTB consists of top and bump foils and supports the rotating disk through the hydrodynamic pressure generated by the wedge effect from the inclined surface of the top foil and the elastic deformation of the bump foils, similar to a spring. The use of air as a lubricant has some advantages such as low friction loss and less heat generation, enabling air bearings to be widely used in high-speed rotating systems. However, even in AFTB, the effects of energy loss due to viscosity at high speeds, interface frictional heat, and thermal deformation of the foil caused by temperature increase cannot be ignored. Foil deformation derived from the thermal effect influences the minimum decay in film thickness and enhances the film pressure. For these reasons, performance analyses of isothermal AFTBs have shown few discrepancies with real bearing behavior. To account for this phenomenon, a thermal-fluid-structure analysis is conducted to describe the combined mechanics. Results show that the load capacity under the thermal effect is slightly higher than that obtained from isothermal analysis. In addition, the push and pull effects on the top foil and bump foil-free edges can be simulated. The differences between the isothermal and thermal behaviors are discussed.