Application of hybrid method to the influence of bearing number on elliptic gas bearing system

This paper employs a hybrid numerical method combining the differential transformation method (DTM) and the finite difference method (FDM) to analyze the nonlinear dynamic behavior of a rigid rotor supported by an elliptic gas bearing system (EGBS). The results obtained for the orbits of the rotor center are in good agreement with those obtained using the traditional FDM approach. Moreover, the results presented summarize the changes which take place in the dynamic behavior of the EGBS as the bearing number are increased over the range 2.0 ~ 5.0, and therefore provide a useful insight into the nonlinear dynamics of the bearing system.