Influence Research of Cavity Shapes on Temperature Field of Multi- pad Hydrostatic Thrust Bearing

In order to compute the thermal deformation of the hydrostatic thrust bearing in the heavy type CNC equipments, a numerical research concerning temperature field of multi-pad hydrostatic thrust bearing having sector cavity, rectangular cavity, Ishaped cavity and ellipse cavity is described. Three-dimensional temperature field of gap fluid between the rotation worktable and the base has been simulated by using Finite Volume Method of CFX. This study analyzes the influence of cavity shape on the bearing temperature performance according to computational fluid dynamics and lubricating theory. It has revealed its temperature distribution. The simulation results demonstrate that an improved characteristic will be affected by cavity shape easily. Through this method, the safety of a multi-pad hydrostatic thrust bearing having different cavities can be forecasted, and the optimal design of such products can be achieved, so it can provide reasonable data for design, lubrication, experience and thermal deformation computation for hydrostatic thrust bearing in the heavy CNC equipments.