On the active stabilization of tilting-pad journal bearings

The concept of active mechanical bearings by drawing an analogy with the principles of operation of active magnetic bearings was discussed. Active bearings can potentially reduce rotor vibration, adjust the load stiffness, provide an automatic rotor balancing capability and dynamic loads. The initial effort in developing an advanced feedback control framework for a type of active tilting-pad journal bearing was also outlined. It was found that the control framework exploits adaptive non-linear control theory and was motivated by the desire to expand the stable operating range of rotor-bearing system.