Modelling the thermohydrodynamic behaviour of high speed journal bearings

The paper describes a numerical investigation into the effect of temperature boundary conditions and viscous dissipation on the behaviour of two- and three-lobe bearings. Model results are compared with experimental data and introduce the need to include temperature fade at the downstream edge of the lobe. This has been included as a temperature prescription and good agreement has been achieved between numerical and experimental results for a three-lobe geometry. For the two-lobe bearing, setting viscous generation to zero in the caviated film gave the best agreement with experiment. This supports the hypothesis that the lubricant adheres to the journal and is carried by it in the caviated film. The model was also introduced successfully for the three-robe bearing confirming its general applicability. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd