Investigation on suitable design parameters for hydrodynamic bearing of LVADs

Abstract

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are crucial and helpful to support heart function for patients with heart failure. For the LVAD with hydrodynamic bearings, high reliability of the bearing is necessary to support the rotor and achieve the performance of LVADs. This research investigates the effect of various design parameters on the performance of a dislocated hydrodynamic bearing in LVAD based on numerical simulation, where Reynolds equation is solved to simulate the behaviour of the bearing under different design conditions. For the design of hydrodynamic bearing, several parameters are considered, such as wedge number, wedge depth, wrap angle, bearing clearance, length-diameter ratio, etc. The results show the effects of these parameters on friction loss, supporting capability, and so on. The optimal hydrodynamic bearing design is proposed so as to improve the performance of LVADs.