Study on the Performance of Gas Journal Bearings for Power MEMS

Abstract

Gas journal bearings, which are used to support radial loads in a rotating machine, have somewhat unusual requirements in Power MEMS deriving from the extremely shallow structures. With the reference Knudsen number being included, the modified Reynolds equation for gas journal bearings based on Burgdorfer’s first order slip boundary condition is put forward. The boundary condition for modified Reynolds equation is given. The numerical method is employed to solve the modified Reynolds equation to obtain the pressure profiles, load capacities and attitude angles of gas journal bearings for Power MEMS under different reference Knudsen numbers and eccentricity ratios. Numerical analysis shows that the pressure profiles and non-dimensional load capacities decrease obviously with the reference Knudsen number increasing, and the attitude angle changes conversely. Moreover, when the eccentricity ratio is smaller, the effect of gas rarefaction on the attitude angle is less.