Improvement on load performance of externally pressurized gas journal bearings by opening pressure-equalizing grooves

To improve the load performance of externally pressurized gas journal bearings (EPGJBs), the influences of structural parameters of pressure-equalizing grooves (PEGs) such as the length, depth, number and location on the load capacity and stiffness are studied systematically. It is found that the depths of the circumferential PEGs have great impacts on the load performance. Compared with opening the circumferential PEGs, opening the axial PEGs is more helpful to improve the load capacity, even opening only one or two axial PEGs. The layout of the axial PEGs has great influence on the load performance. A group of experiments were performed to verify the simulation results, it is found that the experimental results were in agreement with the simulation results.