Grooved Hybrid Air Bearings

P. Stanev
1

F. P. Wardle

J. Corbett

1) Cranfield University, School of Industrial and Manufacturing Science, Bedford, UK 2) Loadpoint Ltd, Cricklade, Swindon, UK

Experiments Grooved hybrid air bearings combine aerostatic and aerodynamic design principles to optimise ultra high speed performance. Aerostatic lift is generated by feeding the bearing with pressurised air through orifice restrictors as in conventional bearing designs. Aerodynamic lift is controlled by the addition of helical grooves machined into the shaft or bearing journal. Partially grooved bearings (shown above) can be designed to improve high speed stiffness whereas fully grooved bearings may be designed to improve high speed stability. Ultra high Speed Machining Applications
Bore Grinding Milling Micromachining Printed circuit board drilling At high speeds the grooves pumping action significantly changes the pressure distribution within the bearing and can improve load carrying capacity and stiffness. The grooves also change the air velocity gradients in the bearing affecting the basic mechanism of whirl instability inherent in fluid film journal bearings - usually improving the threshold at which instability occurs. Grooves may extend the full length of the bearing or part way across the bearing depending upon required operating characteristics. In general, fully grooved bearings give better stability whereas partially grooved bearings may give better stiffness and load carrying capacity. The improvements being confined to high rotational speeds. Experimental work was aimed at validating the computer model. A machining spindle with integral high frequency motor and two partially grooved hybrid bearings was manufactured, fig 8. Pressure sensors were built into one of the bearings to measure the pumping effect of the grooves and a slave bearing and capacitance gauge were mounted on the front of the spindle to enable stiffness to be measured.

Parametric Studies
Grooved hybrid bearings have a large number of design parameters and optimum designs are most easily identified with the aid of a computer model that simulates air flow through the bearing. Such a model has been developed and used to study the effect of groove parameters on bearing stiffness and stability. Figs 4 to 7 give some examples of the results. In these figures bearing speed is represented by the non dimensional parameter Compressibility Number defined as :-

In these applications machining spindles are run at speeds well in excess of 100,000 rpm. The spindles use aerostatic bearings because of : Improved life at ultra high speeds Low friction losses Low motion errors Bearing diameters are usually more than 25 mm and surface speeds often exceed 3.0 x 106 DN (bearing bore in mm x shaft speed in rpm).

= 6 (R/C)2/Pa
where is the viscosity of air, is bearing rotational speed, R is shaft radius, C is clearance measured over ridges and Pa is atmospheric pressure. Fig 4 illustrates that in the case of a partially grooved hybrid bearing there is an optimum groove depth which gives maximum stiffness at high speeds. The improvement over a conventional aerostatic bearing though is at the expense of low speed stiffness. Stiffness measurements were limited in speed to less than 40 000 rpm due to the characteristics of the slave bearing. However the latter could be removed and pressure measurements taken to the spindles maximum speed of 120 000 rpm. This speed limit being a function of the drive motor. Experimental measurements of spindle stiffness showed it to increase with speed. Factoring spindle stiffness to account for the overhang of the slave bearing and capacitance gauge enabled the bearing stiffness to be determined. Comparing bearing stiffness measured in this way with theoretical predictions from the computer model showed reasonable agreement over the range of speeds for which measurements could be taken.

Ultra High Speed Aerostatic Bearing Characteristics

All aerostatic journal bearings develop an aerodynamic component of lift and at surface speeds as low as 0.5 x 106 DN this can exceed the aerostatic lift, fig 1 and hence dominate the bearings high speed performance.

Aerodynamic lift increases bearing load capacity and stiffness but the benefits are at the expense of reduced stability. With aerodynamic lift being dominant at high speeds and with air spindles needing to use large diameter (heavy) shafts to maximise bearing stiffness the aerostatic bearing becomes prone to whirl. As for aerodynamic bearings the whirl frequency is close to one half of the shafts rotational speed and is usually excited when the rotational speed approaches twice the frequency of a critical speed of the spindle. This type of whirl is often referred to as half speed whirl and is destructive in the sense that any attempt to run through it will lead to wear and ultimately seizure of the bearing. Half speed whirl therefore limits spindle speed to about twice the first critical speed of the spindle. Two whirl modes are common on ultra high speed aerostatic spindles, fig 2 and are known as translational whirl or conical whirl. Whichever mode is predominant simply depends on the dynamic characteristics of the bearing - shaft system. Conical whirl is likely to occur in arrangements where the shaft overhang from the bearings is large and conversely translational whirl is more likely when overhangs are low.

The partially grooved hybrid bearing giving the maximum stiffness in fig 4 also exhibits high stability, fig 5. The improvement over a conventional aerostatic bearing is only significant at high speeds, however this is an important advantage as for aerostatic bearings stability is seldom an issue at low speeds.

Pressure in the bearing journal measured midway between orifices in one row also increased with speed. For these measurements the spindle was not subjected to any load so the increase in pressure was predominantly due to the pumping effect of the grooves. Comparing experimental measurements of pressure with theoretical predictions from the computer model again showed reasonable agreement.

For the case of a fully grooved hybrid bearing the improvement in high speed stability over a plain hydrostatic bearing can be substantial, fig 6. Conclusions A computer model of a grooved hybrid bearing has been developed and demonstrated to give reasonable agreement with experimental measurements performed on a high speed spindle. Grooves can be added to otherwise conventional aerostatic bearing designs to modify their high speed performance. More specifically groove designs may be optimised to enhance bearing stiffness or stability at high speeds. Improvements in high speed stiffness or stability are however offset by a reduction in stiffness or stability at low speeds.

Grooved Hybrid Bearing

The grooved hybrid bearing combines aerostatic and aerodynamic design principles. It contains helical grooves, either on the shaft or in the journal bore, located outboard of the air feed jets and arranged to pump air into the centre of the bearing when the shaft rotates, fig 3. However the additional stability is at the expense of stiffness which is lower than that of the conventional bearing throughout the speed range, fig 7.

Partially grooved bearing designs give maximum high speed stiffness with some improvement in high speed stability. Fully grooved bearing designs give maximum high speed stability but at the expense of bearing stiffness.