Investigations on bearing performances of metal rubber-bump foil gas journal bearing with three structure pads integrating stiffness and damping

Foil-type gas journal bearing has low load-carrying capacity and poor operational stability. Metal rubber-bump foil gas journal bearing with three structure pads (MR-BFGJBTSPs) are proposed to achieve satisfactory bearing characteristics. The equivalent stiffness model of metal rubber damping element is developed, considering the contact states of metal wires: separation state, sliding contact state, viscous contact state. The stiffness prediction model is presented based on the modified LuGre model, integrating the friction coefficients. The static and dynamic bearing performances of MR-BFGJBTSPs are analyzed, integrating the stiffness and damping of hybrid elastic support structure. Results show that the predicted structure stiffness Kc compares best to limited test data. The load-carrying capacity of MR-BFGJBTSPs increases when the friction coefficients μtb, μbh increase.