Design and optimization of fluid lubricated bearings operated with extreme working performances—a comprehensive review

Abstract

Fluid lubricated bearings have been widely adopted for supporting components of high-end equipments in the field of metrology, semi-conductor, aviation, strategic defense, ultra-precision manufacturing, medical treatment and power generations. These fields all involve extreme working conditions such as ultra-high moving precision, ultra-high rotation speed, ultra-heavy bearing load, ultra-high environmental temperature, high radiation and high vacuum, which present challenges for the design and optimization of reliable fluid lubricated bearings. Breakthrough of any related bottlenecks will promote the development course of high-end equipments. To further promote the advancement of high-end equipments, this paper reviews the design and optimization of fluid lubricated bearings operated with typical extreme working performances. Targeting on the realization of extreme working perfor mances, the current challenges, the current solutions, the underlying deficiencies and the promising developing directions regarding to the design and optimization of fluid lubricat ed bearings are systematically pointed out. This paper can provide guidance for choosing suitable fluid lubricated bearings and optimizing their structures based on required extreme
working performances.