Air Bearings

Air Bearings

 Air bearings use a thin film of pressurized air to support a load, the same way the puck on an air hockey table "floats" on air. This type of bearing is called a "fluid film" bearing. Fluid film bearings have no solid-to-solid contact under typical running conditions; instead, a film of lubricating fluid (in our case pressurized air) forms a layer between the solid machine elements and serves to transfer forces from one to the other. To compare this with ball bearings, in ball bearings the balls are in constant contact with and form a solid bridge between the machine elements.Fluid film bearings offer a number of advantages over mechanical bearings. First, because there is no contact, air bearings do not suffer from wear or heat generation due to friction. They also exhibit no starting or running friction, even under their highest design loading. In addition, the fluid film acts to center and average out small scale errors in the components resulting in motion which can be more accurate than the individual bearing components. Air bearings also offer much higher stiffness than rolling element bearings because the air film fully supports the components, as opposed to balls or rollers which have point or line contact and are therefore limited due to Hertzian contact stiffness.

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings

Air Bearings