The Potential Use of New Forms of Adjustable Hydrodynamic Bearings in the Intelligent Monitoring and Maintenance of Machine Accuracies

New forms of adjustable fluid film hydrodynamic bearings have shown great potential for suppressing vibrations and maintaining accuracy of location of rotational centres. First demonstrated on a simulated grinding wheel machine tool rotor and spindle system, the principal has also been applied to the support bearings in a large marine gearbox application. In both cases the bearing adjustment feature was used to maintain or displace in a pro-active manner the centre of rotation irrespective of loads and changes of load, and to suppress instabilities and vibrations provoked by running at low and zero loads. It is felt that these characteristics could be of significant benefit in a range of applications when coupled with appropriate intelligent systems for monitoring and control.