Numerical prediction of cavitation in noncircular journal bearings

A numerical investigation of gaseous cavitation in noncircular journal bearings of finite length is presented in this paper. Four bearing profiles are considered: circular, worn-circular, two-lobe (lemon) and elliptical. The alternating direction implicit (ADI) method is used to numerically solve a single partial differential equation that is valid throughout the bearing, i.e., both in full film and cavitated regions. The equation is part of the Elrod algorithm which is used to simulate bearing cavitation. This procedure, which conserves mass throughout the bearing, automatically implements boundary conditions at rupture and reformation that are thought to model moderately to heavily loaded bearings. Performance predictions are compared to results obtained from a variety of earlier papers. Presented at the 43rd Annual Meeting in Cleveland, Ohio May 9–12, 1988

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