Flow Physics of a Rotating Bernoulli Pad: A Numerical Study

Abstract Bernoulli pads are traditionally used for noncontact pick-and-place operations in industry. The normal force produced by a Bernoulli pad allows it to adhere to an object or workpiece. In addition to the normal force, the pad produces shear forces, which allows it to clean a workpiece without contact. A direct relationship between the inlet fluid power and the shear losses motivates us to explore other methods of providing power to the system with the objective of increasing shear forces and thereby improving cleaning efficacy. Here, we numerically investigate a system in which additional mechanical power is added by rotating the Bernoulli pad. The rotating system provides additional fluid forces (normal and shear) for the same inlet fluid power. For a specific pad that we investigated, the maximum wall shear stress increased by ≈15% and the normal force changed from +1.4 N (repulsive) to −6.6 N (attractive) for change in the rotational speed by 60 rad/s. Also, for a given normal attractive force, a stable equilibrium configuration can exist for two mass flow rates, with the higher mass flowrate resulting in a higher stiffness of the flow field.