The role of lubricant feeding conditions on the performance improvement and friction reduction of journal bearings

Abstract Most conventional hydrodynamic journal bearing performance tools cannot suitably assess the effect of lubricant feeding conditions on bearing performance, even though these conditions are known to affect important performance parameters such as eccentricity and power loss. A thermohydrodynamic analysis suitable to deal with realistic feeding conditions has been proposed. Special attention was given to the treatment of phenomena taking place within grooves and their vicinity, as well as to the ruptured film region. The effect of lubricant feeding pressure and temperature, groove length ratio, width ratio and number (single/twin) on bearing performance has been analyzed for a broad range of conditions. It was found that a careful tuning of the feeding conditions may indeed improve bearing performance.

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