Minimum Film Thickness in a Gas Foil Journal Bearing with an Unbalanced Rotor

A gas-lubricated foil journal bearing consists of a compliantmetal shell structure that supports a rigid journal or rotor by means of a gas film. The response of this system to the periodic forces of an unbalanced rotor supported by a single bearing is predicted using perturbation analysis. The foil structure and the gas film are modeled with an analytically perturbed finite element approach to predict the rotor dynamic coefficients. A dynamic model of the rotor is used to predict periodic journal motion. The perturbation analysis is then used with the periodic response of the rotor to calculate periodic changes in the gas film thickness. Other quantities such as the gas film pressure and the foil deflection can also be calculated. The model includes bending and membrane effects in the top foil, coupled radial and circumferential deflections in the corrugated sub-foil, and the equivalent viscous dissipation of Coulomb friction effects in the foil structure. The approach is used to investigate the effects of top-foil thickness on minimum film thickness in a bearing.