Thermo-hydro-dynamic investigation of journal bearing by a two dimensional model

Journal bearings are widely used in industrial machinery, working under heavy loading and high rotating velocity. These bearings are interfered sometimes with sever thermal damages. So the prediction of their exact working temperature is necessary. In this research a two dimensional model of pressure fed cylindrical journal bearing is presented to investigate its thermal performance. For this purpose, precise and useful boundary conditions are defined at journal-fluid-bearing interfaces. A thermo-hydro-dynamic analysis is used such that the governing equations of fluid flow and heat transfer are solved simultaneously. The lubrication fluid flow is assumed to be laminar and the unsteady condition has been assumed in the current work. The results of this two dimensional model are compared with experimental data. The heat flux distribution on the fluid-bearing interface is presented in this paper which has not been observed previously in literature. The results show that temporal changes of heat flux entering to the bearing is increasing near the fluid entrance and decreasing at farther points. Finally, the effect of various parameters such as journal rotation speed, journal material, bearing material and lubrication material are investigated on the temperature distribution and heat flux.