Numerical and experimental research on dynamic characteristics of tilting-pad journal bearing of pivot stiffness and damping

In view of the characteristic of the tile which swings and slightly vibrates through geometric direction of preload, an analytical model for vibration of entire dynamic characteristics of tilting pad bearing and its corresponding simplified dynamic model of 8 parameters are made. Based on this theory, the tilting-pad journal bearing of pivot stiffness and damping is designed. The resilient pads are set between the tiles and the bearings, thus, the pivots of the tiles are put on the resilient pads and a small clearance is left between the resilient pads and the bearings. Therefore, the oil can be shared by the small clearance and the bearing lubrication system, and that can cause squeeze film damping effect which improves the damping coefficient of the system. According to different processing technic, two kinds of tilting-pad journal bearing of pivot stiffness and damping are designed, and their dynamic characteristics are worked out by numercial and experimental research. The result shows that the tilting-pad journal bearing of pivot stiffness and damping can increase the first-order damping of rotor-bearing system and thus improve system's stability obviously. © 2014 Journal of Mechanical Engineering