Effect of microbubble addition in axial slot type water bearings

Previous studies have investigated the load capacity characteristics of water bearings and aerostatic bearings lubricated with compressed air, and it has been found that water bearings have lower load capacity than aerostatic bearings. This is because water is almost incompressible. Therefore, in this study, microbubbles (fine air bubbles) were mixed into water to make the lubricating fluid compressible, with the aim of further increasing the load capacity. The results of CAE analysis and experiments are in good agreement, indicating that the accuracy of CAE analysis is sufficiently ensured. Additionally, experimental results show that gas bearings have a higher load capacity than water bearings. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the load capacity of microbubble water bearings falls between that of gas bearings and water bearings. Through experiments, we confirmed that by introducing microbubbles into water to impart compressibility, microbubble water bearings exhibit a higher load capacity than water bearings.