Effects of surface texturing in steady-state and transient flow conditions: Two-dimensional numerical simulation using a mass-conserving cavitation model

This paper presents a numerical investigation on the influence of surface texturing on the hydrodynamic performance of a two-dimensional parallel slider bearing operating in both steady-state and transient lubrication. The tribological behavior of the bearing is evaluated by means of a mass-conserving cavitation model based on a finite element discretization of a modified version of the unstationary Reynolds equation. While considering the impact of the operating parameters, the influence of various geometrical features such as the texture ratio, the texture density, or the dimple depth is determined by means of an extended parametric study. Furthermore, particular attention is given to the lubrication mechanisms describing the potential effects produced by texturing the moving pad of the bearing. Thus, it is shown that a textured moving surface can contribute to the generation of hydrodynamic lift on the basis of a squeeze effect being produced at the leading edge of the textured region. Finally, the study reveals how texturing the stationary pad and/or the moving pad of the bearing affects hydrodynamic performance. The analyses show that, for an applied load, texturing the moving pad of the bearing instead of the stationary one leads to a decrease in film thickness, while texturing both pads produces optimum bearing performance.