Hydrostatic 4-chamber thrust bearing

Load, stiffness, flow and power for a hydrostatic 4-chamber thrust bearing, with a choice of capillary, orifice, or fixed-flow restrictor.

✓ validated against legacyoriginal: /calculators/e13_3.htm

Hydrostatic 4-chamber thrust bearing — original diagram from /calculators/e13_3.htm

Outer diameter, D₀mmRecess diameter, D₁mmFilm thickness, h₀mm×10⁻³Supply pressure, pₛ−pₐ10⁵ PaPressure factor, β₀Viscosity, ηPa·sRestrictor type

Load capacity, F253 10³ N

Axial stiffness, S3502 10⁶ N/m

Flow rate, Q1.419 10⁻³ m³/s

Power consumption, N2.271 10³ W

Effective area ratio, Aₑ/A0.681

Dimensionless load, F*0.476

Dimensionless stiffness, S*0.66

Dimensionless flow, Q*0.887

Method & references

Hydrostatic 4-chamber thrust bearing — worked example (Prins Willem Alexander Sluis, Amsterdam).

Single-pocket hydrostatic thrust bearing (simpler design, this bearing trades for self-aligning capability)

The computation is a literal port of the original client-side JavaScript from /calculators/e13_3.htm. Results are verified equal to the original by an automated golden-master test. No formula has been re-derived or “improved”.

Hydrostatic 4-chamber thrust bearing — Engineering ABC