| 摘要 |
A bearing assembly for supporting a rotatable shaft comprises a number of bearing pads (20; 30; 40; 50) supported in a housing (21; 31; 41; 51) and the mutually engaging surfaces of each bearing pad and the housing are two surfaces of closely similar shape. These surfaces diverge in a first direction circumferential to the shaft and are each either rectilinear or only very slightly curved in a second direction at right angles to the first direction. The differences between the two surfaces give a contact angle between the surfaces of less than three degrees (preferably less than one degree) in the first direction and of less than one degree (preferably less than 0.1 degree) in the second direction.
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