Effect of fluid inertia on stability of oil journal bearings

In the analysis of hydrodynamic journal bearings the effect of fluid inertia is generally neglected in view of its negligible contribution compared to viscous forces. However, the fluid inertia effect is to be taken in the analysis when modified Reynolds number is around one. Though there are a few attempts to analyze steady-state and dynamic characteristics of finite journal bearings, stability of the journal under the effect of fluid inertia is yet to be investigated. An attempt has been made to evaluate the mass parameter (a measure of stability) besides finding out the steady-state characteristics of finite journal bearings considering the effects of fluid inertia. The analysis is carried out for modified Reynolds number similar toO(1.), which is assumed to be laminar. A nonlinear time transient analysis is carried out for the stability analysis. [S0742-4787(00)00204-6].