Multi-leaf foil bearing with compliant support was proposed in order to increase the bearing load capacity.Based on the flexibility matrix theory

the foil deformation was calculated theoretically

and compared with the finite element analysis results to verify the accuracy of the proposed method.The relationship between the oil film thickness and foil deformation was established.The static characteristics of the oil-lubricated foil bearing were studied numerically and compared with those of multi-leaf foil bearing without compliant support.The static characteristic test rig for oil-lubricated foil bearing was constructed

and then the load capacity of the foil bearing was obtained experimentally.The results indicate that the load capacity of multi-leaf foil bearing with compliant support is bigger than that without compliant support.When the rotating speed is 30000r/min

the load capacity of the bearing increases to 109% compared with the bearing without compliant support.As the rotating speed increases

the tendency for the increment is more obvious.The experimental load capacity agrees well with the theoretical value

and the difference between the results (measured and theoretical results) is 2.7%.