On the Breakdown Under Contact Conditions of Reynolds Equation for Gas Lubricated Bearings

Abstract

For the analysis of gas lubricated bearings, Reynolds equation is available in a number of forms—the original version, first-order modified, second-order modified, one-and-a-half order modified, and Boltzmann-Reynolds. All of these variants are asymptotically examined for instances in which local contact occurs in a bearing. These asymptotics serve to identify the order of the respective singularities in pressures, and thus imply the possible consequences of using a particular version of Reynolds equation in the presence of contact.