LUBRICANT ELASTICITY AND THE PERFORMANCE OF DYNAMICALLY LOADED SHORT JOURNAL BEARINGS

A theoretical analysis is developed for flow of lubricants in a dynamically loaded short journal bearing. The upper convected Maxwell model is chosen to study the influence of lubricant elasticity on the motion of the shaft center within the bearing. An order of magnitude analysis reveals that the fluid relaxation time does not influence bearing performance for steady loads. For time varying loads, however, numerical calculations show that the pressure distribution, the minimum oil film thickness, the attitude angle, and the shaft orbit are all significantly affected by the presence of fluid elasticity. © 1990, The Society of Rheology. All rights reserved.