Evaluation of textured journal bearings under dynamic operating conditions in rotating machinery

Abstract

In order to obtain rotating machinery with improved energy efficiency, the approach of surface texturing journal bearings has been adopted to reduce the viscous dissipation in the lubricant. A possible reduction in shear viscous forces in the bearings of rotating machines could reduce the amount of heat released along its operation, resulting in a lower operating temperature that tends to improve journal bearings performance and the machine’s energetic efficiency. Thus, this work aims to investigate the texturing of journal bearings under dynamic loading conditions, considering the application in rotating systems. For this, computational simulations are performed through a rotating system model constructed by means of the finite element method in which the hydrodynamic journal bearings that support the rotor are modeled by Reynolds’ equation using the finite volume method and the full multigrid technique. The numerical results show that textured journal bearings can be applied to rotating machines, providing reductions in shear viscous forces. However, the magnitude of this reduction should be carefully evaluated, as the Reynolds cavitation model was applied to ensure a lower computational spent time and thus enable the simulations involved in this study. The novelty of this study is related to determining the appropriate distributions and geometric parameters of the textures for the journal bearing under dynamic load condition considering its equivalent static load condition what tends to drastically reduce computational time to perform this procedure, representing an important alternative for industrial application.