The invention discloses a novel active air
foil bearing. The bearing comprises a shaft sleeve, the PZTs, the flexible hinges, rigid push rods, precompression
exertion devices, wave foil and top foil; the shaft sleeve is machined through
wire cutting, three PZT mounting through grooves circumferentially and evenly distributed, the corresponding flexible hinges and the corresponding rigid push rods are obtained, the top ends of the rigid push rods are flush with the inner cylindrical face of the shaft sleeve, the PZTs are mounted in the through grooves, the corresponding precompression
exertion devices are designed for the PZTs, the wave foil is formed by pressing of elastic materials, and is arranged on the shaft sleeve and the inner cylindrical faces of the rigid push rods, one end of the wave foil is welded to the inner
round face of the shaft sleeve, and the other end of the wave foil is free. The top foil is arranged on the wave foil in a covering manner. Through control over power supply signals of the PZTs, the PZTs mechanically deform, the flexible hinges are enlarged to deform, and are supported through the rigid push rods to be attached to the wave foil on the push rods and the inner wall of the shaft sleeve, a gap between a bearing and a supporting rotor is changed, the wedge space is increased, the crossed
coupling effect is weakened, the bearing
dynamic pressure effect is enhanced, the rigid characteristic of the bearing is improved, and finally the aims of actively controlling the rigidity characteristics of the bearing and improving the stability of the bearing are achieved.