A study of optimum load-bearing capacity for slider bearings lubricated with couple stress fluids in magnetic field

Abstract

A theoretical study of slider bearings in general form is presented, considering the lubricant to be an isothermal, incompressible electrically conducting couple stress fluid in the presence of a uniform magnetic field. An expression for a modified Reynolds equation is derived in order to obtain pressure gradient in terms of inlet–outlet (IO) film height ratio (simply IO film ratio) of slider bearings. As a special case, a study of the IO film ratio of four particular types of slider bearings is analysed. For the study of optimum load capacity, three-dimensional geometry has been assumed in order to consider side flow. Values of maximum load capacity for various values of couple stress and magnetic parameters, and the corresponding IO film ratio of the four bearings are obtained numerically, and a comparative study of these values has been presented. A comparative study of optimum load-carrying capacity for finite and infinite slider bearings has also been made. It is observed that both the values of maximum load capacity and the corresponding IO film ratio depend on couple stress and magnetic parameters and the shape of bearings conjointly. The present results are also compared with the similar available data in Newtonian cases.