ABSTRACT
The hydrostatic thrust bearing is regarded as typical applying of the hydrostatic bearing system, whose carrying capability is based on the hydrostatic eect. Oil pressure is pumped into the oil pocket by external supply system and flow through the edge seal of oil pad, which is essential for the oil pad to keep the pocket pressure. Reynolds equation is widely used for analyzing hydrostatic systems after it is modified to fit the working condition. The pressure distribution on seal edge and carrying performance of the hydrostatic thrust bearing will be influenced by the surface deformation. The surface of hydrostatic thrust bearing could be deformed by various reasons which includes the nonlinear distributed pressure, manufacture errors and etc. However, the deformation of the bearing surface can be respected as linear if it is in a small extent. Moreover, the edge seal of oil pad is always manufactured by milling, which will cause surface waviness and influence on the carrying capability of hydrostatic thrust bearing. Therefore, the design of hydrostatic thrust bearing can be optimized by analyzing the impact of surface linear deformation on the carrying performance.
