A turbine shaft may be used to remove a heat load from pliant bearings without requiring the use of a process fluid for cooling the turbine shaft. The turbine shaft comprises a heat conductive sleeve disposed between an outer surface of a tie rod shaft and an inner surface of a bearing journal; the heat conductive sleeve having a sleeve inner surface separated from a sleeve outer surface by a sleeve thickness; the heat conductive sleeve having a first end separated from a second end longitudinal...

The present invention provides a foil journal bearing including at least one support pad mounted inside a journal sleeve, and onto which foils are mounted. The support pad is mounted to the journal sleeve in a manner allowing it to tilt in response to foil loading variations and shaft misalignment. The present invention further provides a foil thrust bearing including at least one support pad mounted to a thrust plate and onto which the foils are mounted. The support pad is similarly mounted in ...

A foil bearing allows bi-directional rotation of a shaft. The foil bearing includes a plurality of thin compliant foils secured to a housing, and spring segments underlying the foils. Each spring segment has a first stiffness profile in a first zone and a second stiffness profile in a second zone. The first stiffness profile allows rotation in one direction, and the second stiffness profile allows rotation in an opposite direction.

A high load capacity hydrodynamic journal foil bearing system is disclosed, which comprises a top foil and a plurality of undersprings. Preload forces are transferred from the undersprings to internal circumferential compressive forces within a top foil, resulting in low preload forces against the shaft, allowing the shaft to expand at high speeds without increasing the preload forces or overloading the fluid film. One underspring may have a different spring rate than another underspring. The to...

A journal bearing including a plurality of individual foils mounted to one of a pair of relatively rotatable members, and a plurality of undersprings which provide resilient support for the foils. The foils include a transition area defined for example by a step, adjacent the trailing edge of the preceding foil. The use of the stepped foil optimizes the geometry of the air gap profile, and thereby increases the load capacity of the journal foil bearing.

An improved foil thrust bearing includes a cooling fluid flow turbulence generating disk placed between other foil thrust bearing elements, such as thrust bearing elements and underspring elements. The inventive turbulence generating disk generally provides improved transfer of heat through the foil and into the cooling fluid of foil thrust bearings that may be used for high rotor speed applications. It accomplishes this by improving the transfer of heat through the foil and into the cooling flu...

A high load capacity journal foil bearing and more particularly undersprings therefor. The journal foil bearing preferably includes a number of individual pads or foils which are conventionally mounted to a journal and have a pad face proximate a rotating shaft. The undersprings each include a number of curvilinear support beams or corrugations which are varied in width and pitch to optimize the spring force supporting the overlying foil. The underspring is configured to have wider beams at thei...

An improved foil thrust bearing includes a pair of members arranged for relative rotation with respect to one another. One of the pair of members is adapted to rotatably support the other. A thrust bearing disk is operatively disposed between the pair of relatively rotatable members. The thrust bearing disk has a plurality of diverging surface ramps. The surface ramps can comprise an inner ramp and an outer ramp. The thrust bearing disk can also comprise a plurality of radial slots. A plurality ...

Cooling is provided for a foil thrust bearing by means of flow openings in the thrust bearing disk or restrictions in the flow underneath the thrust bearing disk or the combination of both.

A foil thrust bearing having a thrust disk with integral compliant bearing pads or foils. A number of alternative thrust bearing disks are disclosed, each of which provides a plurality of integral, converging, bearing pads or foils having diverging ramps and/or openings therebetween.