Tilting-Pad Bearings—The Contact Flexibility of the Pivot

The modeling of tilting-pad journal and thrust bearings presents a level of complexity beyond that of bearings with a fixed-arc geometry, particularly with regard to their dynamic influences. With tilting-pad bearings, the theory surrounding their fluid film must be complemented with the representative modeling of the pad dynamics. What has been recognized in recent decades is the significance of the pad support, in particular the flexibility of the pivot region of the pad. The typical model for including the stiffness of the pivot is based on the Hertzian contact theory. Some researchers have noted that the Hertzian theory does not permit sufficient flexibility in the pivot region. It has been suggested that the contact mechanics at the pivot would be better represented as a pairing of rough surfaces. The modeling used here is based on a statistical asperity micro-contact theory for rough surface line contact that has been extended to include contact stiffness. This model has been applied to the determination of the effective dynamic properties of tilting-pad bearings. The results show that pivot stiffness can be as low as one third of the stiffness determined by the Hertzian theory. A comparison to published experimental results confirms the significance of the rough surface modeling, particularly for the line contacts associated with rocker-back tilting pads.