The History of the Gas Bearings Theory Development

In recent years the interest towards sleeve bearing with gas lubrication had significantly increased. The reason behind this is changes in the requirements for aircraft and power gas-turbine units. The shaft rotation speed and load capacity were increased and the operating conditions became stricter. At the current stage, the task is to create non-contact gas bearings for high-speed heavy rotors of turbomachines. For creating lift force such bearings can use Bernoulli aerodynamic effect or the supply of the air into the gap between the stator and the rotor under the pressure. It is also possible to combine these two effects. Theory of gas lubrication was majorly developed in the late 19 century in the works of Petrov, Reynolds, Sommerfeld, th Chaplygin. The second spurt in growth has occurred in the 60 years of the 20 century and has been linked to th the widespread introduction of gas turbines. At the current stage, the main efforts are put into creation of non-contact bearings for aircraft engines. It is also necessary to solve the difficult problems regarding new materials to create high-temperature anti-friction coating. Avoiding the usage of the oil lubrication allows to expect a significant improvement in performance characteristics, simplification and reduction of the construction's cost.