THE ANALYSIS OF PIVOTED PAD JOURNAL BEARING ASSEMBLIES CONSIDERING THERMOELASTIC DEFORMATION AND HEAT-TRANSFER EFFECTS

The pivoted pad journal bearing is a relatively complex assembly since each pad operates under different conditions and deforms by different amounts. A global analysis method is described that includes thermoelastic deformation of the pads and allows the temperature to vary radially and circumferentially in each of the pads and oil films. The analysis includes the calculation of the entry temperature to each pad and convective cooling from the pad surfaces, and is sufficiently compact to fit on a personal computer. The output of the method is compared with five sets of published results for bearings over a range of size and configuration.