A Contribution to the Problem of Designing Optimum Performance Bearings

The maximum load capacity goal in hydrodynamic bearing optimization is extended to include dynamic performance characteristics, expressed by the spring and damping constants of the bearing. Investigations, based on the Maximum Principle approach and parameter optimization methods, lead to interesting conclusions, concerning the optimum film thickness geometry rsp. its convenient degrees of freedom. Emphasis is put on quasideterministic parameter optimization procedures, as they impose no restrictions on the mathematical model for the bearing pressure calculation and allow a straightforward solution of the optimization problem. Last, the presented sample results show that bearing optimization is a worthwhile task.