A gas thrust foil bearing test rig was designed and manufactured

and a piston loading mechanism with a foil seal was used to apply the load to thrust foil bearing. A thrust foil bearing with cooling air channels and radial radiation distribution bump foil was tested. The bearing load capacity at the speed of 15000

20000

25000r/min was measured by using friction torque method. Results show that the piston loading mechanism with this foil seal structure can supply enough load to the thrust foil bearing and the successful test rig design was certificated. Moreover

this type thrust foil bearing can achieve 145

195

260N respectively at these different speeds. The bearing load capacity has a nonlinear relationship with gas film thickness.