In the recent years, foil bearings have increasingly been used over a wide variety of different high-speed fluid-flow machinery. Since modern bearings of this type are the complex result of an assembly of several interdependent components, both their theoretical description and their modelling is very problematic. This article provides an analysis of the rotor supported by foil bearings conducted on the basis of an in-house developed numerical model. The model takes into account both structural and flow-related parameters, and makes it possible to determine the characteristics of a foil bearing under various operating conditions. The developed model allows analysing the dynamic performance of different foil bearings, taking into account the lubricating medium's properties as well as the geometry and characteristics of structural materials (top foil and bump foil). It gives an opportunity to shape the bearing freely so as to optimise its structure. An example of such an optimisation, which aims to minimise vibration of the rotor, was presented in the article.