Optimal textures for increasing the load support in a thrust bearing pad geometry

We present the calculation results of optimal texture geometries which maximize the supported load for a three-dimensional thrust bearing pad. By making use of the recently developed mean field theory of texture hydrodynamics, we develop an efficient multigrid optimization procedure based on the sequential genetic and conjugate gradient optimization. We show that our model allows to determine optimal solutions based on a two-scale hierarchy of structures, and the existence of particularly effective optimal geometries is presented and discussed.