Circular shallow recess bearings generate a not rotationally symmetrical pressure profile if they are not aligned parallel. The throttling effect of the shallow recess makes this response possible. Furthermore, the generated pressure profile acts against the tilting. As a result, a shallow recess bearing generates a tilting stiffness. This article outlines an experimental approach to characterize the tilting stiffness of an oil hydrostatic shallow recess thrust bearing with micro step and gap height. For this purpose, we developed a small test bench. The measured tilting stiffnesses are compared with a numerical solution based on the 2D-Reynolds equation.
Science Journal 