Bearing and/or seal assembly including permeable body with features engineered to form a desired distribution pattern for a pressurized gas conveyed therethrough

A bearing and/or seal assembly comprising:

• a rotatable shaft (14);
• an annular housing (16) disposed concentric to the rotatable shaft and defining an annular cavity (18) about the rotatable shaft;
• and
• a permeable body (12) supported by the annular housing, the permeable body
• based on structural features (13) selectively engineered to convey a pressurized gas (Ps) from an inlet side (20) disposed at a radially-outward side of the permeable body to an outlet side (22) disposed at a radially-inward side of the permeable body to form an annular film of the pressurized gas relative to the rotatable shaft, wherein a desired distribution pattern of the pressurized gas is formed based on the selectively engineered structural features;
• and
• wherein the structural features are selectively engineered to form conduits (35) including 1) a conduit segment (35′) having a radial-axial tilt disposed upstream of the outlet side (22) of the permeable body, the radial-axial tilt of the conduit segment arranged to jet the pressurized gas in a direction effective to offset an axial fluidic load (36) that develops during rotation of the shaft;
• and/or further including 2) a conduit segment (35″) having a radial-circumferential tilt disposed upstream of the outlet side (22) of the permeable body, the radial-circumferential tilt of the conduit segment arranged to jet the pressurized gas in a direction effective to offset a circumferential fluidic load (36′) that develops during rotation of the shaft.