Turbulent lubrication model for journal-axial coupled hydrodynamic bearings without grooves

Abstract

A journal-axial coupled hydrodynamic bearing (JAHB) without groove was developed in our recent work. In JAHB, the fluid flow could produce the pressure difference to uplift the rotor. Nevertheless, the levitation mechanism of JAHB was not clarified, thus the quick design and optimization were blinded. This paper presents a turbulent lubrication model to predict the fluid pressure distribution in JAHB and the lubrication characteristics. The model takes full consideration of the coupled flow between the journal bearing and the axial bearing. The comparison between the experimental results and the calculations shows that the maximum error is below 15%. This work is expected to improve the fundamental understanding of the levitation phenomena in JAHB and their dependence on multiple design parameters.