A foil thrust bearing including a thrust bearing underspring disk having a radially increasing spring force or load capacity. A plurality of spring sections formed in the underspring disk provided improved load capacity and pressure force distribution.
The leading edges of the segmented corrugated springs of each of the two bump foils of a hydrodynamic thrust bearing are offset such that the leading edge in the upper segmented corrugated springs are circumferentially spaced relative to the leading edge of the lower segmented corrugated springs that is underlying each respective segment of the bump foils. In some embodiments the leading edge of the bump foil is attached and the trailing edge is free to move axially and in other embodiments the reverse occurs where the trailing edge of the bump foil is attached and the leading edge is free to move axially.
A compliant foil fluid film thrust bearing including a thrust disk rotor, fluid foils, spring foils, a thrust plate, and a housing thrust surface The non-rotating but compliant fluid foils, mounted on the thrust plate and/or housing thrust surface and positioned adjacent to the thrust disk, have open faced channels that induce regenerative vortex flow patterns in the process fluid. The multiple spring foils together provide a tilting pad support for the fluid foils but allow them to follow the axial and overturning motion of the thrust disk. The interaction of the tilting pad underspring supports and the circumferential fluid pressure gradients in the process fluid between the fluid foils and the thrust disk rotor assure that the fluid foils will assume hydrodynamically efficient convex shapes on the surfaces adjacent to the rotor regardless of the load applied to the thrust bearing.
A compliant foil fluid thrust bearing has a single sided or two sided thrust disk rotor, an integrally formed compliant foil member, and an underspring member. The non-rotating but compliant foils are located adjacent to the thrust face or faces or the rotatable disk and are formed as arcuate segments on washer-shaped disk members. The underspring member consists of three washer-shaped disk elements that together provide variable spring stiffness in both the circumferential and radial directions.
A spring cluster disc (14) for a foil thrust bearing (10) is provided with a plurality of sets (52) of springs (62,64,66). The springs are configured to provide varying spring force and thus varying stiffness in radial and circumferential directions.
A spring cluster disc (14) for a foil thrust bearing (10) is provided with a plurality of sets (52) of springs (62,64,66). The springs are configured to provide varying spring force and thus varying stiffness in radial and circumferential directions.
