Simulations of Flow Resistances in Circular and Square Hydrostatic Bearings

In the present study, laminar flows in hydrostatic bearings with circular or square recess are investigated numerically. The parameters affecting the flow resistance investigated include gap height and recess size. The numerical results are used to validate the currently available theoretical formulations. For circular hydrostatic bearing, flow resistances predicted with theoretical formulation agree well with the numerical results. However, for rectangular hydrostatic bearing, the maximum relative error can go up to 15%. This indicates that the corner effect is not accounted for in the theoretical formulation. Based on the numerical results, a modified formulation accounting for the corner effect on the flow resistance of the rectangular hydrostatic bearing is proposed.