Effects of design and lubrication parameters on thermo-hydrodynamic performance of noncircular three lobe journal bearings with micropolar lubricant

Due to wide range of engineering application of noncircular journal bearings in industry, their performance analysis is important. Shear stresses and friction forces in lubricant film cause variation of temperature condition in the bearing. Parameters such as increasing in rotational speed of shaft, decreasing in clearance space of bearing and low coefficient of heat transfer of lubricant, shaft and bearing cause the intensity changes in lubricant film temperature conditions. In the present work, the effects of design parameters such as speed of shaft, thickness of bearing shell, bearing length and micropolar lubricant characteristics on changes of temperature, lubricant film pressure distribution, load carrying capacity and attitude angle of bearing are investigated. By comparing the performance of noncircular three lobe bearings with and without considering temperature effects, it is found that pressure of lubricant film as well as load carrying capacity of bearing system decrease with increasing temperature, especially at high rotational speed of rotor. Also, the results show that with increasing micropolarity properties of lubricant, the effect of temperature on performance of mentioned bearings can be increased.