Characteristics of spherical hydrostatic supporting system for floated inertial platform

This paper presents a novel method to evaluate the characteristics of the spherical hydrostatic supporting system for the floated inertial platform in dynamic environments. This hydrostatic supporting system consists of eight suspension pads fixed on the inner sphere. The force model for each single suspension pad is established. The dynamic equations for the inner sphere are also derived from the geometrical configuration. The stable time and stable deviation of the inner sphere in different dynamic environments are calculated. The results show that the hydrostatic supporting system can make the inner sphere resistant to the vehicle acceleration effectively and omnidirectionally. •A novel dynamic model of the inner sphere is derived.•The fluid film stiffness and damping is sufficient to keep the inner sphere stable.•The floated inertial platform can reduce the moment of friction on the inner sphere.•The hydrostatic supporting system can support the inner sphere omnidirectionally.•The synthetical influence of the fluid flux and initial clearance is analyzed.