Effects of correction of thermal properties on 3D conjugate heat transfer of aerostatic thrust bearings

Proper thermal management is crucial to improving the reliability of aerostatic thrust bearing with high air supply pressures. Due to the obvious temperature diffenence in the flow channel clearance, a remarkable conjugate heat transfer phenomenon exists between the gas film and solid discs. Moreover, the changes in temperature and pressure in the clearance cause apparent variations in thermal properties, which inversely effect the heat transfer characteristics of the gas film. In this study, a 3D aerostatic thrust bearing with high supply air pressure is modelled. To investigate the influence of changes in pressure and temperature in clearance on thermal properties, numerical computations are performed to solve the 3D compressible forced convection conjugate heat transfer. Based on the preceding analysis, an effective correction method of air thermal properties is proposed. The effects of thermal properties correction on 3D conjugate heat transfer of gas film are discussed, and it is demonstrated that thermal properties correction at the temperature plays an important role in the conjugate heat transfer analysis of aerostatic thrust bearing with high air supply pressures.