Induced Micro-Variations in hydrodynamic bearings

Fluid-structure interactions in hydrodynamic bearings result in load carrying and drug forces which give the bearing its characteristics. While these bearings offer many benefits as machine components, one of their shortcomings is their limited efficient range. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of micron-scale actuators to actively control the thrust and drag forces on a slider bearing. We show that for a set of control parameters, we are able to affect the performance of a bearing by more than 100 percent during operation, increasing the bearing's range of operation.