Fluid bearings may be designed to provide hydrodynamic load bearing capability across a range of operating conditions. However, the wetted-load carrying area of the bearing, for example, may be of generally fixed geometry. Because the load-carrying capacity of the bearing may be proportional to the bearing surface area, the bearing may effectively be overdesigned for certain operating conditions where the instantaneous load bearing capacity may be above the actual load at the time. Consequently, at operating conditions where the bearing capacity may be higher than the actual load, the carrying area and, therefore, viscous drag of the bearing may be higher than that which would occur for a bearing designed to accommodate the actual load.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds