A lubrication model for bubbly oil lubrication with interfacial effect and thermal effect using the theory of multiphase mixtures

Bubbly oil lubrication is a type of lubrication method. However, the lubrication model of the bubbly oil has not been thoroughly considered. This paper aims to investigate the modelling for bubbly oil lubrication considering the interfacial effect and thermal effect, and a theoretical model is established based on the theory of multiphase mixtures. The interfacial and thermal effects on the static characteristics of a thrust bearing are analyzed. A test rig for the thrust bearing is developed to measure the static characteristics of the bearing under bubbly oil lubrication. The results show that the bearing static characteristics, i.e. bearing temperature rise, film thickness, friction torque, and volume flow, increase with consideration of three interfacial effects; the bearing temperature rise increases but the film thickness, friction torque, and volume flow rate decrease with consideration of the three thermal effects; the thermal effect on the bearing static characteristics is greater than the interfacial effect.