Modeling and Analysis of Micro Hybrid Gas Spiral-Grooved Thrust Bearing for Microengine

The micro hybrid spiral-grooved thrust bearing is a promising candidate to support the rotating elements in power MEMS devices such as micro gas turbine engines. However, the realization of hybrid thrust bearings has encountered a number of technical challenges due to the very high rotating speed and DN number (the product of the inner diameter and the rotational speed of the bearing, mm · rpm) to achieve high power density, the super thin gas film between rotors and thrust pad, and the relative large fabrication uncertainties according to the imperfection of the fabrication technology. In this paper, the configuration of a micro hybrid spiral-grooved thrust bearing for power MEMS is designed, and the steady and dynamic characteristics of this kind of bearing are then analyzed comprehensively, with the consideration of both the rarefaction effects and the influence of potential microfabrication defects. The nonlinear equations of molecular gas-film lubrication describing the gas rarefaction effects in a micro hybrid bearing are discretized by the finite volume method and solved by the Newton–Raphson techniques. The small perturbation technique is employed to study the dynamic behavior of a micro hybrid bearing. The results show that the micro hybrid thrust bearing exhibits better steady-state and dynamic performance than the existing micro hydrodynamic and hydrostatic bearings and that the hybrid bearings are likelier to be stable than their hydrodynamic counterparts, especially when the frequency number is high. The load capacity of the micro hybrid bearing increases slightly with the number of orifices and gradually with the diameter ratio of the orifice. The microfabrication defects of clogged orifices could lessen the load capacity and the dynamic coefficients of the hybrid thrust bearing. The model developed in this paper can serve as a useful tool to provide insight into micro hybrid gas thrust bearing-rotor systems.