STABILITY OF A GAS-LUBRICATED THRUST BEARING WITH SPIRAL GROOVES

The Ritz method is used for obtaining an approximate analytic solution of the problem of unconditional or independent-of-the-shaft-mass stability of the equilibrium of a bearing Ain the linear approximation. It is shown that unlike the Constantinesku-Galetuse method, which ignores the nonstationarity of the equations for the lubricant pressure distribution, the critical values of the compressibility parameter are found from a quadratic equation. Results of numerical calculation are presented.