On the behavior of a ferrofluid-lubricated herringbone-grooved hybrid slot-entry bearing

Abstract

The behavior of a slot-entry hybrid herringbone-grooved journal-bearing system lubricated with a ferrofluid lubricant has been numerically studied. The modified Reynolds equation of a ferrofluid bearing model based on the Stokes micro-continuum theory has been numerically solved by a finite-element method. A MATLAB code based on the Gauss–Seidel iteration scheme has been solved to numerically simulate the bearing performance. The simulated results reveal that the use of a ferrofluid lubricant provides enhanced values of lubricant film thickness, fluid film stiffness/damping coefficient, and better stability threshold speed.