Static Characteristics of High-Temperature Superconductor and Hydrodynamic Fluid-Film Compound Bearing for Rocket Engine

With the application prospect of a new generation of a liquid rocket engine and the status that system safety and reliability are weakened by the friction and wear of existing rolling bearings, a kind of compound bearing for axial balance is proposed in this paper, which is a combination of a high-temperature-superconducting bearing and a hydrodynamic fluid-film bearing. The most important feature of the compound bearing lies in a kind of “superconducting tilting pad” structure. The structure of the compound bearing and its detailed feasible application scheme in a rocket engine are given. The static characteristics of the compound bearing based on a decoupling analytical method are studied, such as the pressure distribution, the temperature distribution of the film, the minimum film thickness, and the bearing capacity. Theoretical results indicate that a compound of a high-temperature superconductor and a hydrodynamic fluid film is an effective approach to improve the static characteristics of bearings for a rocket engine.