Rahul Raj V

M S5
Roll No:40
INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS AN AIR BEARING

CUT WAY OF AN AIR BEARING PCB DRILLING SPINDLE

TYPES OF AIR BEARINGS

APPLICATIONS

BEARING COMPARISON

ADVANTAGE

DISADVANTAGE

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 Bearing technology represents one of the age-old problems for
mechanical engineers. Rolling element bearings developed in the last
century were a revolutionary improvement over the plain bearings
that had been pushed to their limits in applications like electric motors
and automobile wheels. Air bearings represent the next logical step in
bearing design.
Air bearings in genera have a proven track record having been
employed in coordinate measuring machines for20 years. The many
technical advantages of air bearings such as near zero friction and
wear, high speed and high precision capabilities, and no oil lubrication
requirements are powerful advantages for today's machine designers.
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 An air Bearing is a Non Contacting system Where air act as the lubricant
that separates the two surface in relative motion.
 To compare this with Ball bearing, in ball bearing the balls are in
constant contact with and form a solid bridge between the machine
elements
 Air bearings are being mainly used precision machinery tools
(measuring and processing machines)and high speed machines (spindle,
small-scale turbo machinery)
 Unlike contact roller bearings, air bearings utilize a thin film of
pressurized air to provide A ‘zero friction’ load bearing interface
between surfaces that would otherwise be in contact with each other.
Being non-contact, air bearings avoid the traditional bearing-related
problems of friction, wear, and lubricant handling, and offer distinct
advantages in precision positioning and high speed applications.
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CUT WAY OF AN AIR BEARING PCB DRILLING
SPINDLE

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Externally pressurized
• A separate external supply of air is
fed under pressure between the two
surfaces being kept apart.
• It is a continuous flow system where
pressurized gas from the source flows
through restrictors into the clearance
between the bearing surfaces
escaping to the atmosphere at the
outside edges of the bearing.
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 Cross-section through bearing, Section through
fitted with orifices orifice line 7
 2) Aerodynamic Bearings
Self Generating
• The supporting film is generated by the relative
motion of the two surfaces being kept apart.
• As the speed increases, a velocity induced
pressure gradient is formed across the clearance.
• The increased pressure between the surfaces
creates the load carrying effect.
• Load capacity is dependent on the relative speed
at which the surface moves and therefore at zero
speed, the bearing supports no load.
• Types: Simple cylinders, Tri-lobe, Grooved (axial
/ herringbone / spiral) and Stepped.

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Aerodynamic Bearings - Technology
• Foil bearing
– Bearing surface is flexible, allowing large displacement and
providing a good stability.

• Spiral groove bearing

– Gas film is pressurized by grooves machined on one of the
surfaces, achieving high load capacity and stability.
– The usual groove patterns are herringbone-shaped, spiral or
straight (step bearings)

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APPLICATIONS

Air bearing cutting engine Air bearing Doppler engine

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Air bearing 2-axis table with friction drive Air bearing satellite system for Solar Arrays
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 Air Bearings in proposed Hyper loop

Bearing with piston actor

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Machine for the image setting industry
Coordinate measuring machines

Testing equipments

High-speed equipments

Ultra accurate machine tools

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ADVANTAGES
 Zero friction
 Zero wear
 Straighter motion
 Silent and smooth operation
 Higher damping
 Eliminates oil
 High speed
 No service maintenance
 Simplification over conventional bearings
 Cost advantage and repeatability
 Improved machine efficiency
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 Self-excited vibration
 Tight manufacturing tolerances
 Sensitive to the presence of particulates and
dust

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CONCLUSION
 It is a technology that improves accuracy , resolution ,
smoothness and dynamic response performance over
rolling element bearings
 It is a viable clean solution for high speed application
 These advantages turn them into a clean and environment
friendly bearing solution for various high speed
applications such as optical scanning equipment and
machine tool spindle for PCB drilling and micro-milling

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Reference

WWW.WESTWIND-AIRBEARINGS.COM
WWW.NEWWAYAIRBEARINGS.COM

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