Static and Dynamic Characteristics of a Novel Magnetic-Water Double Suspension Rubber-Supported Tilting-Pad Thrust Bearing

Hydrodynamic water-lubricated thrust bearings under low speed and heavy load are difficult to form complete lubrication and are easy to have severe wear, which cannot meet the requirements of marine high-power shaft less rim driven thrusters (RDTs). A novel magnetic-water double suspension rubber-supported tilting-pad thrust bearing (MWRTB) is created. To investigate load capacity and dynamic characteristics of the bearing, the force balance equations of the rubber-supported pad and the composite dynamic characteristic algorithm based on the thermal-fluid-magnetic coupling model of the MWRTB are proposed. Case studies show that when the clearance is large, the magnetic force is dominant in load-carrying. When the clearance is micron, the water film force is dominant in load-carrying. Compared with the pure magnetic bearing, the stiffness and damping coefficients of the MWRTB are increased by more than one order of magnitude, which is beneficial to vibration reduction and stability improvement. With the change in bearing clearance, there are maximum values of bearing stiffness and damping coefficient.