Interference torque of a three-floated gyroscope with gas-lubricated bearings subject to a sudden change of the specific force

A numerical study is carried out to investigate the influence of a sudden change of the specific force on a three-floated gyroscope with a rotor supported on gas-lubricated bearings.The interference torque is calculated to evaluate the influence by modeling the transient behavior of the rotor-bearing system. In combination with dynamic equations of the rotor displacement,the Reynolds equation is solved on the surface of spiral-grooved conical bearings. It is assumed that a steady state has been obtained with a constant specific force, and then the specific force is suddenly changed and maintained constant after that. Responses of the sudden change are obtained by solving the equations. Numerical results show that the direction of the sudden change of the specific force is the main factor which influences the interference torque curve. With a sudden change along the input direction, the interference torque fluctuation has a constant frequency and a decreasing amplitude. With a sudden change along the output direction, the interference torque fluctuates in a small range. With a sudden change along the spin direction, the change of the interference torque combines a fluctuation and a gradually-changing quasi-equilibrium value. This study provides a supplement to the steady-state error model of the three-floated gyroscope.