Active hydrostatic bearing with magnetorheological fluid

Special bearings based on magnetic fluids are well known in literature. These bearings use the magnetic pressure inside a ferrofluid that is exposed to a magnetic field. The biggest disadvantage of this principle is the small load that can be supported. In one reference [B. M. Berkovsky, V. F. Medvedev, and M. S. Krakov, Magnetic Fluids, Engineering Applications (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993)], the specific load is specified as 1 N cm-2. To support heavy loads very large support areas are needed. We will present a completely different concept for bearings with magnetorheological fluids. Hydrostatic bearings get their load bearing capacity from the hydrostatic pressure produced by an external pump and should not be confused with hydrodynamic bearings presented in another reference [R. Patzwald, M. S. thesis, Institute fur Werkzeugmaschinen und Fabrikbetrieb, Technische Universitat, Berlin (2001)]. The main disadvantage of hydrostatic bearings is that the bearing gap varies with the payload. Conventional systems compensate for these variations with a change of the oil flow rate, that is done, for example, by external valves. Our contribution will present a hydrostatic bearing that uses magnetorheological fluids. Due to the fact that magnetorheological fluids change their rheological properties with the change of an external magnetic field, it is possible to achieve a constant bearing gap even if the payload changes. The great advantage of this system compared to valve based systems is the short response time to payload changes, because the active element (i.e., the fluid) acts directly inside the bearing gap, and not outside like in the case of valves. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.