Determination of Gas-Bearing Stability by Response to a Step-Jump

Abstract

The stability of a gas bearing is treated by a new procedure in which the bearing film is characterised by its responses to step-jump displacements. Duhamel’s theorem is invoked to generalize these step responses in a system of dynamical equations. Stability is determined by calculation of a “growth factor” for each degree of freedom. Results are presented for the infinitely long self-acting sleeve bearing and for a finite length two-bearing system.