Analysis of Heavily Loaded Tilted Pads Thrust Bearings With Large Dimensions Under TEHD Conditions

Huge thrust bearings with centrally pivoted and tilted pads operating under heavy loads are analzyed using the (thermoelastohydrodynamic) TEHD-theory. The Reynolds equation, the energy equation of the oil film, and the heat conduction equation of the bearing, all are coupled with the deflection equation and solved simultaneously in order to determine the bearing characteristic values. The first three equations are transformed by means of finite difference method and the last equation is solved using the method of Ritz-Galerkin. Based on successive approximation method a new iterative scheme is presented to apply the heavy load incrementally which provides a successful convergence of the equation system. In order to find the equilibrium state of the pad, another iterative scheme based on a controlled change of the pad tilts is applied. The tilts are changed as a function of the offset of the hydrodynamic resultant force from the pivot location. It is proved that the new scheme is quite efficient in successful convergence of the equation system and in saving CPU time.