Thermohydrodynamic Analysis of Wide Thrust Bearings Operating in Turbulent Inertial Flow Regimes

Abstract

Wide thrust bearings operating in turbulent inertial flow regimes are studied. Isothermal and thermohydrodynamic performances of the bearing are analyzed. Integro-differential equations of motion, continuity, and energy equations are solved to yield pressure, mass-mean velocity, and temperature distributions. The effects of contraction ratio and film Reynolds number on the pressure field, load bearing capacity, flow rate and frictional resistance force of the bearing are examined. The effect of film temperature variation on the performance of bearing is studied and the result is compared with the isothermal case. It is observed that the viscous heating reduces the load bearing capacity to a significant extent. The effects of including the inertial terms are also considered. The results for inertial and noninertial cases are plotted and compared. It is shown that with the inclusion of the inertial terms the load bearing capacity somewhat increases. The results obtained are compared with the existing data and reasonable agreement is observed.