Study on Rotor-Bearing Dynamic Performance of a Novel Motorized Spindle Supported by Water-Lubricated Hydrodynamic Spiral Grooved Bearings

The water-lubricated hydrodynamic spiral grooved bearings have been utilized to support the high-speed motorized spindle. However, the viscous damping effect of water is much weaker than that of the oil, so the dynamic behavior and the stability of the motorized spindle with the water-lubricated spiral grooved bearings need to be studied thoroughly. This paper established an improved rotor-bearing dynamic model for the motorized spindle by incorporating both the distributed effect of journal bearing and the tilting effect of thrust bearing into a turbulent thermohydrodynamic lubrication model. An experimental setup for the motorized spindle was developed to measure the spindle dynamic behaviors and verify the established dynamic model. The critical speeds, the transient dynamics and the stability of the motorized spindle are studied theoretically and experimentally. The results show that the motorized spindle with the water-lubricated spiral grooved bearings can operate at high speeds with a satisfactory supporting stiffness and exhibits an excellent operational stability.