The Simulation of Gas Film Flow Field in Aerostatic Thrust Bearing
Abstract
Based on the CFD software, the numerical simulation and visualization of the gas flow in the gas film gap are carried out. Considering the influence of gas flow, the laminar flow model was adopted when the clearance is relatively small and a realizable model was adopted for large gaps. This research analyzes the effect of bearing clearance on gas pressure, velocity and Mach number, and accurately captures the flow field characteristics of the bearing inlet region. The calculation results show that the inlet gas film pressure drops significantly or even lower than the ambient pressure under large clearance conditions, so the influence of inertial force cannot be ignored. The mechanism of pressure drop and recovery is revealed by the theory of expansion wave and compression wave for the phenomenon of shock wave near the entrance.
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