What Are Fluid Film Bearings?

 


A fluid bearing is a bearing type that creates a thin liquid or gas layer to form a low friction load-bearing interface between the moving components. Also known as fluid film bearings, they split the component surfaces with a thin layer of oil more often than not.

It is like a bed of fluid between two metal components, making pieces slide rather than grind or scrape. While this fluid layer offers high load enduring capacity and good resistance to any surface movement, the sliding feature contributes to smoother operations and longer machine life.

Thanks to their qualities such as bearing massive loads, operating at high speeds and enduring high temperatures, they are commonly used in applications such as turbines and hard disk drives.

How Fluid Bearings Work

As we learnt in the above section, fluid bearings work by creating a separating layer of pressurized fluid between two or more moving parts. This fluid layer does not let the mechanical parts directly touch each other, helping them rotate and move more smoothly.

Fluid bearings can be divided into two categories:

  • Hydrodynamic fluid bearings: These bearings rely on the movement of parts to generate the lubricating fluid. The rotating shaft pulls the oil into the bearing space, creating a pressure that significantly reduces friction.

  1. Hydrostatic fluid bearings: These bearings depend on an external pump to generate the fluid and circulate it into the bearing space. In applications with heavy loads and those requiring high precision, hydrostatic fluid bearings make an ideal choice.

Applications of Fluid Bearings

Here are a few applications of fluid film bearings:

  • Power generation plants: Fluid bearings play an important role in power generation plants to maintain uninterrupted power supply. They are widely used in steam and gas turbines to ensure smooth operation under high speeds and extreme temperatures. They also handle heavy rotational stresses.
  • Oil and gas refineries: Fluid bearings are used in compressors and high-speed pumps to efficiently handle heavy axial and radial loads.
  • Steel and metal manufacturing: Rolling mills rely on fluid film bearings for their ability to absorb shocks, reduce vibration and maintain alignment under immense load conditions, ensuring consistent product quality.
  • Maritime: To manage both radial and thrust loads, as well as for excellent corrosion resistance in wet conditions, propeller shafts and ship engines also use fluid bearings.
  • Aerospace: In high performance aircraft engines and control systems, where reliability, efficiency and tolerance to extreme conditions are top properties, fluid bearings again make the ideal bearing type.

If you are looking for reliable industrial bearing distributors in India, visit us at https://www.premierbearing.com/.

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