Flow in Finite-Width, Thrust Bearings Including Inertial Effects: I—Laminar Flow

Abstract

Presented is a new numerical procedure for the calculation of flow in finite-width bearing films. The method, based on the integro-differential approach, is a development of schemes devised by Patankar and Spalding [8] and Gosman and Pun [9] for general flows occurring in fields other than tribology. Principal features of the method are: the full inclusion of inertial effects; the retention of “primitive” variables; the use of a marching solution procedure using line-by-line solution of the discretized conservation equations. Applications to several aspects of laminar inertial flow problems are discussed.