Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Dehong Huo, Dr Amir FardORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2025 by the authors.Aerostatic bearings incorporating micro-hole restrictors with diameters on the order of tens of microns demonstrate superior static and dynamic stiffness characteristics, while significantly reducing air consumption, and are increasingly adopted in precision engineering applications. This paper investigates the modelling of aerostatic bearings with micro-hole restrictors. First, a refined discharge coefficient formula is developed, incorporating the orifice length-to-diameter ratio effect using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation results on a centrally fed circular aerostatic bearing. A numerical solution scheme is proposed using the developed discharge coefficients to enable more accurate and efficient prediction of the bearing performance and flow characteristics. Finally, the proposed numerical approach is implemented using the finite difference method (FDM) and demonstrated through a circular thrust air bearing case study. The results are validated against both CFD simulations and experimental measurements, showing excellent agreement and confirming the reliability of the FDM-based numerical model. Numerical and experimental investigations consistently demonstrate that micro-hole-restricted air bearings can achieve both high load capacity and high stiffness, having the potential for application in more complex air bearing designs and systems.
Author(s): Huo D, Fard A, Liu J, Gou N, Cheng K
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Machines
Year: 2026
Volume: 14
Issue: 1
Print publication date: 01/01/2026
Online publication date: 29/12/2025
Acceptance date: 23/12/2025
Date deposited: 09/02/2026
ISSN (electronic): 2075-1702
Publisher: MDPI
URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/machines14010043
DOI: 10.3390/machines14010043
Data Access Statement: The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
