A Review on Performance Characteristics of an Air Foil Thrust Bearing

The axial loads of high-speed rotating turbo machines are supported by self-acting hydrodynamic components known as air foil thrust bearings (AFTB). The load bearing capability of these bearings depends primarily on the foil structure and secondarily on the operating conditions. The present review enlightens on the tribological performance parameters of the said bearing in enhancing the load carrying capacity. Various design and fabrication methods including theoretical models are briefly summarised and comparisons of experimental results are presented in order to reveal the possible research gap that leads in optimising the gas lubricated foil thrust bearings (GFTB) for their better employment in typical applications.