A quick calculation method for the performance of tilting-pad bearings

Vollständiger Abstract

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Purpose This study aims to achieve a rapid solution for the performance parameters of tilting-pad bearings. Design/methodology/approach A fast calculation method is proposed. The method uses the central difference method to solve the Reynolds equation and constructs a local oil film force database for a single pad. A coordinate transformation model is built based on the geometric distribution of the tilting-pad bearing, assembles and synthesizes the oil film forces of each pad based on this model, forming a bearing performance parameter database. The proposed method concentrates the main calculations on constructing the database, while subsequent bearing performance calculations for arbitrary operating conditions are performed through database retrieval and interpolation, avoiding the repetitive iterative calculations of the oil film force. This significantly improves computational efficiency. Additionally, a five-pad tilting-pad bearing is used for computational verification. Findings The time consumption of the iterative solving method increases multiplicatively with the number of operating conditions, pads and iterations, while the time cost of the method presented in this study is mainly spent on database construction, making it more time-efficient. Originality/value The proposed method reduces the computational cost of multi-condition analysis and provides an efficient solution for engineering analysis of tilting-pad bearings. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-07-2025-0325/