Low-Cost Ball/Air/Magnetic Hybrid Bearing System for Extended-Life Micro Gas Turbine Engines

A unique type of air lubricated thrust bearing called a Wave Bearing is proposed to assist a rolling element bearing to carry the thrust load and to improve the bearing’s life when used in a micro gas turbine engine. The Wave Bearing technology will provide improved reliability, safety and life compared to rolling element bearings used alone, as well as to allow simplification of engine design and reduced costs. When compared to its alternatives, the Wave Bearing has distinct advantages. It is much simpler than a Magnetic Bearing and it is less prone to wear than a Foil Bearing. In the proposed Phase I program, computer codes developed by Dr. Dimofte, will be used to adapt the Wave Bearing to the design requirements relevant to the micro gas turbine engines. Test conditions will be thrust loads to 200N, speeds to 100,000 rpm and durations sufficient to prove the demo. The Wave Bearing will be developed and tested in Phase I to assure with reasonable engineering certainty that it is a viable candidate for use in a micro gas turbine engine and the testing will verify that more extensive testing should be conducted in Phase II.