Convection and Dissipation Effects in Oil Lubricated Conical Bearings With Variable Viscosity

Abstract

The influence of the inclusion of convection and dissipation terms in the energy equation, on the characteristics of a conical bearing with constant film thickness, rotating with a uniform angular velocity is examined. The slider temperature is taken to be an arbitrary constant, greater, equal or smaller, than the assumed constant temperature of the pad. The fluid is considered to be incompressible and the viscosity is assumed to vary exponentially with temperature. The governing system of coupled momentum and energy equations, in conical coordinates, is solved numerically using the finite difference method to yield the various bearing characteristics. The results show that the inclusion of dissipation function alone leads to an underestimation of load capacity and torque, whereas the inclusion of convection terms alone leads to an overestimation of the same.