Effects of oil recess structural parameters on comprehensive tribological properties in multi-pad hydrostatic thrust bearing for CNC vertical processing equipment based on low power consumption

Hydrostatic thrust bearings have been applied in high speed and heavy load machine tools because they provide superior characteristics such as higher positional accuracy, greater stability, and lower friction. The energy consumption of the fluid system exceeds 40% of the total energy consumption of the machine tools To reduce the energy consumption, it is usually necessary to optimize comprehensive tribological properties of multi-pad hydrostatic thrust bearing in CNC vertical processing equipment from the perspective of the oil recess structure. Effects of oil recess structural parameters on comprehensive tribological properties in multi-pad hydrostatic thrust bearing are investigated using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and lubrication theory. Focusing on this problem, this study comprehensively investigates the effects of oil recess shape, oil recess depth, land width on the tribological properties of hydrostatic thrust bearing using numerical simulation method. The relationships between the optimal comprehensive tribological properties and structural parameters are determined. An experimental rig is set up to verify the correctness of the numerical simulation method. The results indicate that to get an optimal comprehensive performance from hydrostatic bearing based on low power consumption, it is necessary to choose a proper of oil recess structural parameters.