Abstract
This research work is focused on the nonlinear modeling and control of a hydrostatic thrust bearing. In the proposed work, a mathematical model is formulated for a hydrostatic thrust bearing system that includes the effects of uncertainties, unmodelled dynamics, and nonlinearities. Depending on the type of inputs, the mathematical model is divided into three subsystems. Each subsystem has the same output, i.e., fluid film thickness with different types of input, i.e., viscosity, supply pressure, and recess pressure. An extended state observer is proposed to estimate the unavailable states. A backstepping control technique is presented to achieve the desired tracking performance and stabilize the closed-loop dynamics. The proposed control technique is based on the Lyapunov stability theorem. Moreover, particle swarm optimization is used to search for the best tuning parameters for the backstepping controller and extended state observer. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified using numerical simulations.