Computational Analysis of the Equalization Behavior of Thrust Bearings

Introduction

Monitoring the behavior of fluid film bearing components is an important aspect of bearing design. This study uses computational analysis to examine how much the modifications to the leveling plates of tilting pad thrust bearing necessary to install monitoring sensors compromise the load equalization performance of a tilting pad fluid film thrust bearing under misalignment conditions. It was observed that the bearing equalization system is still functional for design modification cases such as material removal at the outer diameter of the lower leveling plates, while the equalization performance is reduced slightly.