Theoretical analysis of two configurations of aerostatic flat pad bearings using pocketed orifice restrictors

Aerostatic flat pad bearings are finding increased applications in high-precision machine tools, high-performance measuring equipment and coordinate measuring machines. To date, much of the development of these bearings has been of an empirical nature since there are no detailed design procedures for assisting designers to optimize their designs^1,2. In the field of aerostatic journal bearing design, comprehensive procedures do exist. The object of this paper is to exploit the principles developed for the analysis of aerostatic journal bearings to the area of flat pad bearings, which are more widely used in industrial situations. In this paper, similar analysis tools are developed and are used to obtain design performance data for a number of flat pad bearing configurations. These data include load, flow and stiffness parameters, all of which are fundamental to design optimization.