Multifunctional bushing for gas foil bearing - test rig architecture and functionalities

The following content refers to the thermal aspects of Gas Foil Bearing (GFB). GFBs are subgroup journal bearings, for which lubrication is provided by air, instead ‘traditional’ lubricants like oil, graces etc. Bearings offer specific features unachievable traditional bearings. GFB can operate with rotating speed up several dozens krpm in extreme temperature hundreds Celsius degrees. However due their construction, prone issues complicate design process. Until now, many tools, mainly based on numerical models were developed. Their effectiveness evaluated experimental data. Due high complexity GFB’s structure, measurement a challenging task and so far, no reliable simple technique was proposed. There still need developing techniques, allowing precise measurement. This paper presents novel approach compliant structure. unique concept foil integrated sensors presented described detail.