EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION OF A MODEL OF THE LOSS OF FLUID FRICTION IN A HYBRID THRUST BEARING

摘要

One of the known solutions of thrust bearings for heavy machines is a hybrid slide axial bearing composed of a set of bearing pads supported on sets of compression springs. During operation of such a system, a series of failures have been observed. The failures were caused by inappropriate parameters of the supporting springs and the appearance of an adverse system of forces acting on the bearing pad. The paper presents the results of experiments in which pressure distribution in a bearing interspace of a model hydrostatic thrust bearing was measured. The research goal was to verify an earlier formulated quantitative model, describing the conditions at which the mentioned failure occurred. The results of the experiment confirm the legitimacy of the proposed model.