Study on thermoelastohydrodynamic performance of bearing with surface roughness considering shaft deformation under load in shaft‐bearing system

Abstract

PurposeCurrent lubrication analyses of misaligned journal bearings are generally performed under some given preconditions. The purpose of this paper is to calculate the lubrication characteristics of a journal bearing with journal misalignment caused by shaft deformation under load, considering the surface roughness, thermal effect and (thermal and elastic) deformation of bearing surface simultaneously.Design/methodology/approachThe lubrication of bearing was analyzed by average flow model based generalized Reynolds equation. The deformation of bearing surface under pressure or heat of oil film was calculated by compliance matrix method. The compliance matrix was established by finite element analysis. The temperature distributions of oil film and bearing were calculated by energy equation and heat conduction equation.FindingsWhen the thermal deformation of bearing and journal surface is considered, the radius clearance affects not only the value of the maximum oil film pressure and minimum oil film thickness, but also the distribution of oil film pressure and thickness of misaligned bearing. The effect of thermal deformation of bearing on the performance of misaligned bearing is larger than that of elastic deformation of bearing. Whether or not the surface roughness affects the performance of misaligned bearing and the affecting level depends greatly on the condition of deformation of bearing surface.Originality/valueThe surface roughness, thermal effect and (thermal and elastic) deformation of bearing surface were considered simultaneously in the thermoelastohydrodynamic lubrication analysis of bearing with journal misalignment caused by shaft deformation under load. The results of this paper are helpful to the design of the bearing.