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Performance and Safety Improvement of Large-Scale Hydrostatic Bearings
Michalec, Michal ; Wodtke, Michal (oponent) ; Fillon, Michel (oponent) ; Svoboda, Petr (vedoucí práce)
This dissertation thesis deals with the experimental and numerical study of large-scale hydrostatic bearings. Such bearings are used to carry and manipulate large structures precisely and smoothly, as the sliding surfaces of the bearing are completely separated by an externally pressurized lubricating film. Since its first official introduction in 1852, extensive research has been conducted on performance improvement. Nonetheless, the researchers primarily focused on hydrostatic bearings of small sizes, while very little research focused on larger dimensions of this type of bearing. In such cases, completely different challenges arise, which are connected with higher energetic demands, the bearing parts manufacturability, transportation and assembly. Manufacturing errors, improper bearing alignment or non-optimal design can worsen the bearing performance, and even cause its malfunction. This thesis aims to introduce performance and safety improvements into large-scale hydrostatic bearing design methodology. The bearing performance improvement is performed using a numerical model of the fluid domain that is validated using experimental and theoretical data. This study presents a completely new approach based on optimizing multiple geometric parameters of the hydrostatic bearing pad independently. The safety improvement is performed purely experimentally. The attention is aimed at pad and slider misalignment, and their influence on the bearing performance. Moreover, the self-aligning ability of the pad using compliant support is examined. The experimental part was carried out using testing hydrostatic bearing consisting of two pads with full diagnostics. As the results indicate, the proposed optimization methodology of geometric parameters of a hydrostatic bearing can improve the bearing performance by as much as 20 %. The investigation of misalignment effects on the performance shows certain range, within the bearing can still operate safely, while compliant support can extend this range. This study presents original research expanding the knowledge of large-scale hydrostatic bearing systems towards better performance and higher safety.
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