Influence of Collar Deformations on Hydrodynamic Thrust Bearing Performance

Theoretical models of hydrodynamic thrust bearings do not usually consider thermoelastic deformations of the collar, while pad deformations are usually taken into account. In many cases the results of theoretical analysis differ much from experimental data despite of variety of effects being included in the TEHD models. In the authors’ research an attempt of including runner thermoelastic deformation in a bearing model was taken up. The results of calculations of a water turbine thrust bearing were compared for three cases — no runner deformation, elastic runner deformation and thermoelastic deformation. Including runner thermoelastic deformations resulted in improved agreement between theoretical results and available experimental data. However a detailed knowledge on runner design and boundary conditions is necessary for realistic evaluation of deformations, which is to a great extent individual design dependent and difficult to generalize.