A Novel Monolithic Shape-Morphing Bearing for Real-Time NVH Control

In this paper a novel, active, hydraulically actuated, shape-morphing 3-wave bearing is presented for the active control of noise and vibrations of rotating machines. Wave bearings are used in various critical mechanical structures since they offer better stability, higher load capacity and improved performance compared to classical journal bearings and in addition, due to their geometry, they can attenuate vibrations and reduce noise emissions by more than 20%. The novelty of the presented bearing design lies in its capability of adapting its geometry in real-time using hydraulic actuation through a monolithic simple pocket design. The design was validated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis and a full dynamic simulation was performed to investigate the vibration control capabilities of the bearing as part of an operating powertrain. It is demonstrated that its shape-morphing characteristics may reduce vibration transfer up to 100%, while for low-stiffness systems anti-resonance responses can be achieved. Meanwhile, the design of the bearing is very simple, requiring minimum interventions in existing applications.