An Investigation into the Validity of the Temperature Profile Approximations across the Film Thickness in THD Analysis of Infinitely Wide Slider Bearing

Many investigators have frequently assumed polynomial temperature profiles across the film thickness in the mathematical modeling of lubricating films in the hydrodynamic bearings in order to make computations simpler. Thus, to verify the validity of such temperature profile approximations in computations, it is essential to access the accuracy of results achieved with such approximations. In this study two different temperature profile approximations (Legendre polynomial and Parabolic polynomial) across the film thickness in energy equation have been assumed and comparison of computed results with these two temperature approximations have been carried out. The results obtained have been examined for their accuracies. Based on the present analysis, it has been observed that the temperature approximation across the film thickness taken by Legendre polynomial yields more accurate results in comparison to parabolic temperature profile assumption.