Contactless measurement of hydrostatic bearing lubricating film using optical point tracking method

Abstract

Hydrostatic bearings are vital part of numerous industrial applications of various sizes. Especially large-scale bearings are often encountered with complications caused by pad alignment and levelling. For such cases, a contactless measurement method was developed for film thickness diagnostics of hydrostatic bearings. The proposed method is based on a monocular tracking method, which is versatile and easily applicable for in-field measurements and diagnostics of hydrostatic lubricating films. The optical method is compared with analytical calculation and film thickness data obtained from proximity sensors of the experimental device. The results show good agreement of the data obtained from proximity sensors and the analytical calculation compared to the optical measurement. The proposed method could be used to improve the hydrostatic bearing pad levelling, alignment, or film thickness diagnostics of hydrostatic bearing pads to avoid costly maintenance that might arise due to collision of sliding surfaces in the case of lubricating film failure.