Static and Dynamic Analysis of Multileaf Foil Journal Bearings Considering Misalignment Effects

Abstract In the present work the analysis of gas lubricated multileaf journal bearing has been presented. The two dimensional compressible Reynolds equation was solved to establish the pressure field in the clearance space of the bearing. Elastic deformation equation is coupled with the Reynolds equation to get the foil deflections and change in film thickness. The effect of bearing misalignment on foil bearing performance characteristics has been presented. The problem has been formulated using incremental finite element method. The effect of bearing misalignment on static performance characteristics like load carrying capacity, frictional torque, minimum film thickness and on dynamic characteristics in terms of stiffness and damping coefficients have been presented.