Preliminary Experiments With Foil Bearings

Abstract

A capacitive probe, coincident with the surface of a revolving drum, scans the air gap between a flexible foil and the rotating cylinder. Preliminary measurements of foil displacement are made and compared with results obtained by other investigators. The experiments confirm the existence of an undulating, and sometimes unstable foil configuration in the exit region. A comparison is made between theoretical and experimental values of local amplitude and wavelength of the undulation. The effect of side leakage on displacement is demonstrated.