The invention discloses a method for designing a tilting pad thrust pad of a large water-lubricated bearing, and relates to the technical field of thrust pads. The method comprises the following steps: A, establishing a model, B, determining the number of pads, C, determining the thickness of an oil film, D, determining the position and the height of the pads, and E, determining the thickness of awater film. The design of the thrust pad is facilitated by establishing the model, and operations and analysis are facilitated. Meanwhile, the design accuracy of the thrust pad is ensured. The load borne by the thrust bearing can be conveniently calculated through the positions and the heights of the pads. The thrust bearing is prevented from bearing overlarge load to find out bending or fracture. By calculating the thickness of the oil film, the bearing bush burning accident caused by bearing friction loss due to the fact that the thickness of the oil film does not reach the ideal thicknessis avoided, the service life of the bearing thrust bush is prolonged, a lubricating model of the stepped bush dynamic pressure thrust bearing with the common size is adopted, and the structural size and the bearing capacity of the operation condition of the stepped bush thrust bearing on the bearing are analyzed.