Load and stiffness of a hydrostatic bearing lubricated with a Bingham plastic fluid

Using a smart fluid, for example, magnetorheological or electrorheological, in a hydrostatic bearing gives the possibility to actively change the bearing properties during operation. This work presents an analytical model to predict the load and stiffness of a planar hydrostatic bearing lubricated with a Bingham plastic fluid. The model is validated with the use of a numerical model that uses the Bingham–Papanastasiou regularization to achieve convergence. The model gives insight into the size of the operational range of the bearing and the load characteristic.