Micro Air Bearing for a Microturbine

The dynamic characteristics of air bearings for microsystems are investigated. Micro air bearings investigated in this paper include journal and thrust air bearings. The dynamic thrust air bearing employs spiral groove configuration, and the dynamic journal air bearing is formed by a plain circular trench with a short journal length of L, a diameter of D, and a narrow radial clearance of C. The optimum values of the bearing system are explored and presented in terms of maximum load carrying capacity. Stability analysis shows that motion stability and load capacity impose contradictive requirements on the groove pattern of the thrust bearing. Shock tolerance analysis shows that the shock tolerance of the air bearing system increases with the bearing number, rotational speed, bearing aspect ratio of L/D, and initial equilibrium eccentricity ratio epsiv₀. A prototype of the turbine device has been realized using the recommended bearing configurations. The primary tests of the prototypes demonstrate that a stable operation of 15 000 rpm has been achieved.