Orifice-compensated hydrostatic thrust bearing, central pocket (lock-gate scale) — fixed reference geometry
Reference-geometry calculator (650mm bearing diameter, 0.1mm film thickness, 0.7 pressure factor — all fixed, matching the original) for the alternative single-pocket design to the 4-pocket hydrostatic lock-gate bearings of the Prins Willem Alexander Lock in Amsterdam.
The legacy "please login" demo lock froze THREE values together (bearing radius, film thickness and pressure factor) to these exact defaults. Per docs/phase6/OWNER-DECISIONS-BACKLOG.md K4, this fixed geometry is kept exactly as in the original and only the inputs that were already free under the lock are exposed. Generalizing it is a deliberate future decision for Anton, not made here. Self-aligning capacity can be increased by reducing the central pocket diameter, at the cost of load capacity — compensate with higher supply pressure or a larger bearing.
Method & references
- Alternative single-central-pocket design to the 4-pocket hydrostatic bearing of the Prins Willem Alexander Lock Gate in Amsterdam, NL — at the same bearing diameter, the load capacity is identical to the 4-pocket design, but self-aligning capacity is inferior.
- FIXED GEOMETRY: bearing radius 325 mm (diameter 650 mm), film thickness 0.1 mm, pressure factor 0.7 — the original demo lock froze these three values simultaneously.
The computation is a literal port of the original client-side JavaScript from /calculators/e13_3b.htm. Results are verified equal to the original by an automated golden-master test. No formula has been re-derived or “improved”.