The design of partially grooved externally pressurized bearings

Most hydrostatic and aerostatic bearings are designed using external restrictors in order to obtain sufficient bearing stiffness. Alternatives such as the shallow pocket or partially grooved externally pressurized bearing are seldom applied, in spite of their advantageous constructive simplicity. In this article a simple analytical model to analyze journal bearings with partially grooved surfaces is described. The results of the analytical model are compared to the results obtained by numerical analysis. Both incompressible and compressible fluids are considered. The formulas derived are of extreme simplicity and helpful in finding the groove dimensions for optimal load capability and calculating approximate bearing characteristics using a simple calculator.