Abstract:

ESDU 82029 provides charts and calculation methods for the design of fixed-inclined-pad thrust bearings. It may also be used to analyse the performance of existing bearing designs in failure analysis or to investigate the feasibility of uprating their performance. The bearings considered are steadily loaded with the load shared equally between the pads but applications with loads and speeds varying slowly may be treated by this method. The operation of the bearing is described, guidance is given on the specification of the design parameters and a method is provided for estimating its required dimensions. A procedure for analysing the performance of a bearing design is given and calculation methods allow the determination the resulting film thickness, power loss, lubricant flow rates and temperatures. A notable feature is the inclusion of a means of estimating the churning losses. Guidance is given on modifying the performance and ensuring that the bearing operates with an adequate margin of safety. See ESDU 92034 for a Fortran program of this calculation method.