Improvement of the THD Performance of a Misaligned Plain Journal Bearing

2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 334-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bouyer ◽  
M. Fillon

This numerical study deals with the improvement of the thermohydrodynamic performance of a 100 mm plain journal bearing submitted to a constant misalignment torque under steady-state conditions. The performance of the misaligned journal bearing is improved by adding either a local or a global defect to the bearing geometry. The influence on bearing performance of the local defect, situated in the zone of minimum film thickness, is analyzed by using various widths and lengths of defect. A global defect, which is conical in shape and is located at one end of the bearing, is also studied under varying direction and magnitude of misalignment torque. Our main focus was on hydrodynamic pressure, temperature distributions at the film/bush interface, oil flow rate, power losses and film thickness. The defects significantly improved the performance of the bearing. The minimum film thickness increased by more than 60 percent and the temperature decreased, whilst the axial flow rate was barely affected. Thus, the defects can be an effective solution for misaligned bearings when they are submitted to extreme operating conditions.

2001 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bouyer ◽  
M. Fillon

The present study deals with the experimental determination of the performance of a 100 mm diameter plain journal bearing submitted to a misalignment torque. Hydrodynamic pressure and temperature fields in the mid-plane of the bearing, temperatures in two axial directions, oil flow rate, and minimum film thickness, were all measured for various operating conditions and misalignment torques. Tests were carried out for rotational speeds ranging from 1500 to 4000 rpm with a maximum static load of 9000 N and a misalignment torque varying from 0 to 70 N.m. The bearing performances were greatly affected by the misalignment. The maximum pressure in the mid-plane decreased by 20 percent for the largest misalignment torque while the minimum film thickness was reduced by 80 percent. The misalignment caused more significant changes in bearing performance when the rotational speed or load was low. The hydrodynamic effects were then relatively small and the bearing offered less resistance to the misalignment.


Author(s):  
L Costa ◽  
A. S. Miranda ◽  
M Fillon ◽  
J. C. P. Claro

In this work a thermohydrodynamic analysis has been developed in order to investigate the influence of oil supply conditions on the performance of a journal bearing. The supply conditions considered were oil supply temperature, supply pressure, groove length and groove location. To carry out this study, the hydrodynamic pressure distribution inside the bearing has been determined using a mass-conserving cavitation model with realistic supply conditions. The energy equation and the heat conduction equation have been used for the determination of oil film and bush temperature distributions. The agreement observed between theoretical predictions and experimental published data is acceptable. Quantitative information shows that the oil supply conditions affect bearing performance parameters in different ways. Oil flowrate was markedly affected by all supply parameters studied. Power loss, maximum bush temperature and minimum film thickness were mainly dependent on oil supply temperature. The effect of supply pressure on minimum film thickness was dependent on groove location. An axial groove located at 90° to the load line gave rise to more favourable bearing performance characteristics.


Author(s):  
D Ashman

This paper gives details of a combined theoretical and experimental investigation of a plain journal bearing under heavily loaded conditions together with a metrological study of the bearing geometry. It was found that under high loading conditions a simplified analytical expression relating the Sommerfeld number to the non-dimensional minimum film thickness, using a hydrodynamic solution of the isoviscous form of the Reynolds equation, could be developed. An alternative theoretical solution based on elastohydrodynamic lubrication was also considered. In addition, experimental work determined a variety of operating conditions that produced metal-to-metal contact. These operating conditions were then compared with the theoretical minimum film thickness calculations and bearing manufacturing data. This process was used to determine combined failure criteria based on operating conditions and machining capability.


2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Gu ◽  
Q. Jane Wang ◽  
Shangwu Xiong ◽  
Zhong Liu ◽  
Arup Gangopadhyay ◽  
...  

Misalignment between the shaft and the bearing of a journal bearing set may be inevitable and can negatively impact journal bearing performance metrics in many industrial applications. This work proposes a convex profile design of the journal surface to help counteract the negative effects caused by such a misalignment. A transient mass-conserving hydrodynamic Reynolds equation model with the Patir–Cheng flow factors and the Greenwood–Tripp pressure–gap relationship is developed to conduct the design and analysis. The results reveal that under transient impulse loading, a properly designed journal profile can help enhance the minimum film thickness, reduce mean and peak bearing frictions, and increase bearing durability by reducing the asperity-related wear load. The mechanism for the minimum film thickness improvement due to the profile design is traced to the more even distribution of the hydrodynamic pressure toward the axial center of the bearing. The reason for the reductions of the friction and wear load is identified to be the decreased asperity contact by changing the lubrication regime from mixed lubrication to nearly hydrodynamic lubrication. Parametric studies and a case study are reported to highlight the key points of the profile design and recommendations for profile height selection are made according to misalignment parameters.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. P. Brito ◽  
A. S. Miranda ◽  
J. Bouyer ◽  
M. Fillon

An experimental study of the influence of oil supply temperature and supply pressure on the performance of a 100mm plain journal bearing with two axial grooves located at ±90deg to the load line was carried out. The hydrodynamic pressure at the mid-plane of the bearing, temperature profiles at the oil-bush and oil-shaft interfaces, bush torque, oil flow rate, and the position of the shaft were measured for variable operating conditions. Shaft rotational speed ranged from 1000 to 4000rpm and two different values of applied load were tested (2 and 10kN). The supply temperature ranged from 35 to 50°C, whereas the oil supply pressure range was 70 to 210kPa. Bearing performance is strongly dependent on the supply conditions. It was found that the existence of the downstream groove significantly affects the temperature profile at the oil-bush interface except for the low load, low feeding pressure cases, where the cooling effect of the upstream groove is significant. Feeding temperature has a strong effect on the minimum film thickness. The increase in maximum temperature is significantly lower than the corresponding increase in supply temperature. Increases in supply pressure lead to a significant rise in oil flow rate but have little effect on the maximum temperature and power-loss, except in the case of the lightly loaded bearing. Shaft temperature was found to be close to the bearing maximum temperature for low applied loads, being significantly smaller than this value for high loads. The mean shaft temperature is only significantly higher than the outlet temperature at high shaft speeds.


Author(s):  
J. Bouyer ◽  
M. Fillon

Bearings nowadays are often subjected to misalignment. Both theoretical and experimental misaligned bearings have been previously studied, it being found that the minimum film thickness is the parameter which is most noticeably affected. However, other work has showed that both thermal and deformation effects have to be considered when a bearing is subjected to severe operating conditions. The present work analyzes the influence of thermal effects, as well as the effects of mechanical and thermal deformation on misaligned bearing performance.


1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (3) ◽  
pp. 621-627 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Desbordes ◽  
M. Fillon ◽  
C. Chan Hew Wai ◽  
J. Frene

A theoretical nonlinear analysis of tilting-pad journal bearings is presented for small and large unbalance loads under isothermal conditions. The radial displacements of internal pad surface due to pressure field are determined by a two-dimensional finite element method in order to define the actual film thickness. The influence of pad deformations on the journal orbit, on the minimum film thickness and on the maximum pressure is studied. The effects of pad displacements are to decrease the minimum film thickness and to increase the maximum pressure. The orbit amplitude is also increased by 20 percent for the large unbalance load compared to the one obtained for rigid pad.


Author(s):  
Riccardo Da Soghe ◽  
Cosimo Bianchini ◽  
Carl M. Sangan ◽  
James A. Scobie ◽  
Gary D. Lock

This paper deals with a numerical study aimed at the characterization of hot gas ingestion through turbine rim seals. The numerical campaign focused on an experimental facility which models ingress through the rim seal into the upstream wheel-space of an axial-turbine stage. Single-clearance arrangements were considered in the form of axial- and radial-seal gap configurations. With the radial-seal clearance configuration, CFD steady-state solutions were able to predict the system sealing effectiveness over a wide range of coolant mass flow rates reasonably well. The greater insight of flow field provided by the computations illustrates the thermal buffering effect when ingress occurs: for a given sealing flow rate, the effectiveness on the rotor was significantly higher than that on the stator due to the axial flow of hot gases from stator to rotor caused by pumping effects. The predicted effectiveness on the rotor was compared with a theoretical model for the thermal buffering effect showing good agreement. When the axial-seal clearance arrangement is considered, the agreement between CFD and experiments worsens; the variation of sealing effectiveness with coolant flow rate calculated by means of the simulations display a distinct kink. It was found that the “kink phenomenon” can be ascribed to an over-estimation of the egress spoiling effects due to turbulence modelling limitations. Despite some weaknesses in the numerical predictions, the paper shows that CFD can be used to characterize the sealing performance of axial- and radial-clearance turbine rim seals.


1977 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Etsion ◽  
D. P. Fleming

A flat sector shaped pad geometry for gas lubricated thrust bearings is analyzed considering both pitch and roll angles of the pad and the true film thickness distribution. Maximum load capacity is achieved when the pad is tilted so as to create a uniform minimum film thickness along the pad trailing edge. Performance characteristics for various geometries and operating conditions of gas thrust bearings are presented in the form of design curves. A comparison is made with the rectangular slider approximation. It is found that this approximation is unsafe for practical design, since it always overestimates load capacity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wassim Habchi ◽  
Philippe Vergne

Abstract The current work presents a quantitative approach for the prediction of minimum film thickness in elastohydrodynamic lubricated (EHL) circular contacts. In contrast to central film thickness, minimum film thickness can be hard to accurately measure, and it is usually poorly estimated by classical analytical film thickness formulae. For this, an advanced finite-element-based numerical model is used to quantify variations of the central-to-minimum film thickness ratio with operating conditions, under isothermal Newtonian pure-rolling conditions. An ensuing analytical expression is then derived and compared to classical film thickness formulae and to more recent similar expressions. The comparisons confirmed the inability of the former to predict the minimum film thickness, and the limitations of the latter, which tend to overestimate the ratio of central-to-minimum film thickness. The proposed approach is validated against numerical results as well as experimental data from the literature, revealing an excellent agreement with both. This framework can be used to predict minimum film thickness in circular elastohydrodynamic contacts from knowledge of central film thickness, which can be either accurately measured or rather well estimated using classical film thickness formulae.


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