A tolerancing procedure for inherently compensated, rectangular aerostatic thrust bearings

Manufacturing errors on aerostatic bearing surfaces and orifice geometry are known to impair performance. Theoretical analyses were carried out on a rectangular thrust bearing for the most common form of gap non-uniformities — tilt, concavity, convexity and waviness at various spatial wavelengths, as well as changes in orifice diameter and position from the bearing edge. The results illustrate the sensitivity of both static load and stiffness to various forms of manufacturing error. A tolerancing procedure is recommended to limit changes in static load and stiffness to 10%.