Aerostatically sealed chamber as a robust aerostatic bearing

Aerostatic bearings are typically used in ultra precision and high speed applications in controlled environments. The present study expands this operating domain. The present study experimentally investigates the performance and feasibility of a novel design for a robust air bearing consisting of an aerostatically sealed pressurized volume. A suitable operating domain for the bearing system was characterized based on measurements of the load capacity, friction moment, chamber flow, and seal flow rate at various opposing surface run-outs and supply pressures. The highest measured load capacity was 18.86 kN at 0.330 mm run-out, and decreased to 12.22 kN load at 3.804 mm run-out. The study provided corroborative evidence on the feasibility of the proposed chamber based bearing design. [Display omitted] •Robust aerostatic bearing design based on an aerostatically sealed pressure chamber.•Effect of operating parameters on bearing performance: pressure, load, and air flow.•Analysis of air consumption and leakage of pneumatically preloaded aerostatic seals.•Effect of opposing surface run-out on the performance of robust aerostatic bearing.