The Steady Performance of Externally Pressurized Porous Rectangular Pad Gas Bearings Incorporating Viscous and Inertia Dominated Flow

A general analysis of three-dimensional flow through a porous rectangular thrust bearing which incorporates both viscous and inertia permeabilities of the porous media is presented. Solutions for load capacity and flow rate are obtained using standard numerical procedure but introducing a new term ‘the effective permeability’. It is shown that inertia flow reduces the load capacity and increases the flow rate through the bearing.