Investigation on the Static Performance of Surface-Throttling Frictionless Pneumatic Cylinder through Finite Element Method

The equilibrium system is essential for the high-precision movement of the ultra-precision vertical axis. However, the complex assembly process makes orifice-throttling frictionless cylinders difficult to manufacture and prone to air hammering. Surface-throttling frictionless pneumatic cylinders effectively avoid these problems. This paper establishes an improved finite element method (FEM) model of a novel surface-throttling frictionless pneumatic cylinder to investigate its static performance. Furthermore, the static equilibrium calculation of the dual-cylinder system is concerned. The radial bearing capacity and support force requirements for the surface-throttling aerostatic bearings are obtained. The outcomes provide theoretical guidance for optimizing cylinder parameters. It ensures that the ultimately optimized cylinder meets the requirements for radial bearing capacity and support force of the ultra-precision vertical axis while minimizing air consumption. Finally, the accuracy of the proposed method is verified through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculation and experiments.