ESABEA aims to improve the design of tilting pad journal bearings (TPJBs) for turbomachinery, addressing the increasingly extreme operating conditions driven by next-generation high-efficiency compression systems. As peripheral speeds and thermal loads rise, bearings must provide reliable stiffness and damping without introducing destabilizing cross-coupling effects. TPJBs are key components in centrifugal compressors, steam turbines and gas turbines, and accurate design and characterization are essential for safe and efficient machine operation.

The project focuses on developing high-performance bearings through advanced pad materials, including environmentally friendly alternatives to babbitt coatings, and through innovative surface finishes such as functional textures. Given the complexity of thermo-fluid dynamic phenomena, performance improvements must be validated through deep experimental testing.

With two dedicated test benches, ESABEA will study the static and dynamic behavior of new TPJBs using an increased number of pressure, temperature and pad-position sensors, both traditional and advanced. New data-processing strategies based on statistical models will enhance accuracy in determining dynamic coefficients. Experimental results will support refined numerical models, enabling significant advances in bearing design. ESABEA will deliver new insights for greener, more efficient TPJBs, reducing environmental impact and improving energy and material savings in turbomachinery.

This project, ESABEA, is focused on the design improvement of TPJBs for turbomachinery with advanced materials, a deeper experimental characterization and more reliable numerical models.

New bearings for higher performances and efficiency will be investigated with particular attention to new pad materials (e.g. replacement of babbitt pad metal coating, avoiding heavy metal poisoning, by using environmentally friendly materials) and surface finishing with textures.

Due to the complexity of the involved phenomena, the improvement of bearing performance and efficiency must be proven by deep experimental investigations on the static and dynamic bearing behavior. Thanks to the availability of two test benches already installed in the laboratories of the research units of this project, specifically designed for medium and large size TPJB characterization, the performances of the new TBJBs will be deeply investigated with the use of an increased number of pressure, temperature, pad position sensors of both traditional and advanced type.

Moreover, new data processing techniques will be adopted to improve accuracy and precision in the determination of the bearing dynamic coefficients with advanced statistical models.

Experimental results will also allow a fine tuning of the available bearing numerical models yielding significant improvements in bearing design. The new deep insights of ESABEA will provide important indications about possible modifications particularly on the bearing pads for greener TPJBs, including the possibility to employ more environmentally friendly materials, and greater savings of energy and materials in the turbomachines.