International Journal of IT, Engineering and Applied Sciences Research (IJIEASR) ISSN: 2319-4413

Volume 2, No. 2, February 2013

i-Xplore International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournals.org
45
Analysis of Hydrodynamic Lubrication in Infinitely Long
Journal Bearing with Oscillating Velocity

Nishant Aggarwal, UG Student (B. Tech IV year), Mechanical Deptt., NIT, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India.
Deepanshu Chawla, UG Student (B. Tech IV year), Mechanical Deptt., NIT, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India
Vijay Kumar, UG Student (B. Tech IV year), Mechanical Deptt., NIT, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India
Arpit Tayal, UG Student (B. Tech IV year), Mechanical Deptt., NIT, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India
Shivam Mittal, UG Student (B. Tech IV year), Mechanical Deptt., NIT, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India
Punit Kumar, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Deptt., NIT, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India



ABSTRACT

The journal and bearing system is supported by a thin
lubricant film with hydrodynamic pressure distribution.
To predict the bearing performance parameters,
Reynolds equation is solved, based on Infinitely Long
Approximation for infinitely long journal bearing. To
analyze the lubricating film, Reynolds equation is
formulated by the finite difference method to find
different parameters like pressure distribution, fluid
film thickness and their relationship with the shaft
velocity. As a fact we know in a journal bearing, load
on the shaft is supported by the lubricant film between
the journal and the bearing. In present study, shaft
velocity is assumed to be time dependent (function of
time). Through this, we can study the journal bearing
film thickness dependence on shaft velocity for the
passage of time under certain assumed load. For this
we divide film thickness in certain fixed nodes. Pressure
is determined at these nodes using Newton-Raphson
technique. Pressure is corrected using Gauss
Elimination method. Taking Reynoldss equation as a
basis of solution, ignoring the wedge film term and
considering only squeeze film term, change in minimum
film thickness with time can be shown graphically.

Keywords
Journal bearing, Newton-Raphson, Reynolds equation,
Gauss Elimination, Jacobian coefficients, Residual
vector.

1. INTRODUCTION

A bearing is a machine element which supports another
moving machine element (known as journal). It permits
a relative motion between the contact surfaces of the
members, while carrying the load. Due to the relative
motion between the contact surfaces, a certain amount
of power is wasted in overcoming frictional resistance
and if the rubbing surfaces are in direct contact, there
will be rapid wear. In order to reduce frictional
resistance and wear and in some cases to carry away the
heat generated, a layer of fluid (known as lubricant)
may be provided. The lubricant used to separate the
journal and bearing is usually a mineral oil refined from
petroleum, but vegetable oils, silicon oils, greases etc.,
may be used. Infinite long journal bearings are
commonly used to support radial loads at extreme
operating speeds and conditions where conventional
bearings cannot operate.

There is a thick film of lubricant between the journal
and the bearing. The load can be supported by this fluid
pressure without any actual contact between the journal
and bearing. Resistance to motion will develop a
pressure distribution in the lubricant film that can
support a useful load. The load supporting pressure in
hydrodynamic bearings arises from either-

1. The flow of a viscous fluid in a converging channel
(known as wedge film lubrication), or
2. The resistance of a viscous fluid to being squeezed
out from between approaching surfaces (known as
squeeze film lubrication).

A hydrodynamic journal bearing is shown in Fig.1, in
which O is the Centre of the journal and O is the Centre
of the bearing. Let D = Diameter of the bearing, d =
Diameter of the journal, and l = Length of the bearing.
The following terms used in hydrodynamic journal
bearing are important from the subject point of view:

1. Diametral clearance: It the difference between the
diameters of the bearing and the journal.
Diametric clearance, c =D d
2. Radial clearance: It is the difference between the
radii of the bearing and the journal.
Radial clearance, c
1
=R-r =(D-d)/2=c/2
3. Diametral clearance ratio: It is the ratio of the
diametral clearance to the diameter of the journal.
Diametral clearance ratio=C/D
4. Eccentricity: It is the radial distance between the
Centre (O) of the bearing and the displaced Centre (O)
of the bearing under load. It is denoted by e.
International Journal of IT, Engineering and Applied Sciences Research (IJIEASR) ISSN: 2319-4413
Volume 2, No. 2, February 2013


i-Xplore International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournals.org
46
5. Minimum oil film thickness: It is the minimum
distance between the bearing and the journal, under
complete lubrication condition. It is denoted by h
0
and
occurs at the line of centers. Its value may be assumed
as c / 4.

Figure 1. Hydrodynamic Journal Bearing

2. REYNOLDS EQUATION FOR
JOURNAL BEARING

( ) ( ) 0 2 sin 2 /
3
= + c c
c
c
X K X P H
X
t c t

Where,
2
2
24
|
.
|

\
|
=
c
R
W
R
K
o
t q e

o
p
p
P =
,
t
|
t 2 2
= =
R
x
X
,
R
W
p
o
t 2
=
,
c
h
H =


W
= Radial load per unit axial length
Film thickness equation for journal bearing is
( ) X H t c 2 cos 1+ =

Finite difference formulation
( ) 0 2 sin 2
2
1
2 / 1
2
1
2 / 1
= +
A

A

=

+
+ i
i i
i
i i
i i
X K
X
P P
X
P P
f t c t c c

where,
3
i i
H = c ,
|
.
|

\
| +
=
|
.
|

\
| +
=

+
+
2
,
2
1
2 / 1
1
2 / 1
i i
i
i i
i
c c
c
c c
c

Load Equi l i bri um Equati on
W pdx
a
i
x
x
=
}

The above equat i on i s expr essed i n non-
di mensi onal f orm as fol l ows: -

1 =
}
a
i
x
x
PdX

The i nt egr al i s cal cul at ed usi ng Si mpson' s
rul e and i t can be wr i t t en i n t he fol l owi ng
for m: -
0 1
2
= = A

=
N
j
j j
P C W

Wher e,

= A
= A
= A
=
... 7 , 5 , 3 3 2
... 6 , 4 , 2 3 4
1 3
j X
j X
j X
C
j

Newton-Raphson F ormul ati on
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

A
=
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

A
A
A
A
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
0
3
2
3
2
3 2
3 2
3 3
3
3
2
3
2 2
3
2
2
2
0
W
f
f
f
P
P
P
C C C
f
P
f
P
f
P
f
f
P
f
P
f
P
f
f
P
f
P
f
P
f
N N
N
N
N
N N N
N
N

c
c
c
c


3. SOLUTION PROCEDURE FOR
JOURNAL BEARING

Over al l sol ut i on pr ocedur e t o fi nd t he
pr essur e di st r i but i on & fl ui d f i l m t hi ckness
at di f f er ent nodes ( at di f f er ent space
coor di nat es) on bear i ng at t he same t i me
i nt er val i s: -
1. The pressure distribution [P], eccentricity ratio c
and outlet boundary co-ordinate X
o
are initialized to
some reference values. Take X
in
=0 and X
o
=0.6.
2. Evaluate the fluid film thickness, H, at different
node by using film thickness equation.
3. The residual vector [f] is calculated at each node.
4. The residual vector AW is calculated from the
discretized load equilibrium equation.
5. The residual vectors calculated in the steps 3 and 4
are assembled in a single vector [F] to facilitate
execution of Newton-Raphson scheme.
6. This is followed by computation of Jacobian
coefficients.
7. The corrections to the system variables are
computed by inverting the Jacobian matrix using
Gauss elimination.
International Journal of IT, Engineering and Applied Sciences Research (IJIEASR) ISSN: 2319-4413
Volume 2, No. 2, February 2013


i-Xplore International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournals.org
47
8. The corrections, calculated in step 7, are added to
the corresponding system variables to get the new
values of the pressure distribution [P] and
eccentricity ratioc .
9. The outlet boundary co-ordinate X
o
is corrected by
using an appropriate scheme.
10. The termination of the iterative loops requires the
fulfillment of the predefined convergence criteria to
arrive at an accurate solution. In order to check the
convergence of the pressure distribution, the sum of
the nodal pressures corresponding to the current
iteration (say n-th) is calculated. If the fractional
difference between this value and that corresponding
to the previous iteration is less than the prescribed
tolerance TOL, the pressure distribution is assumed
to have converged. Thus,

TOL
P
P P
n
N
i
i
n
N
i
i
n
N
i
i
s
(

= =

1
1
1
1 1


The eccentricity ratio is assumed to converge if the
fractional change in its value becomes less than the
prescribed tolerance in successive iterations

| | | |
TOL
n
n n
s

1
1
c
c c


The val ue of TOL adopt ed i n t he anal ysi s i s
4
10 1

as i t has been found t hat a l ower
val ue does not cont r i but e t o i mpr ove t he
accur acy of t he sol ut i on. The i t er at i ve l oop
t er mi nat es and t he cur r ent val ues ar e
consi der ed as t he fi nal sol ut i on onl y i f al l
t he r el evant conver gence cr i t er i a ar e
sat i sfi ed si mul t aneousl y.
11. I f any one or more of the relevant criteria are
not sat i sf i ed, t he next i t er at i on begi ns and
t he cont r ol i s shi f t ed back t o t he st ep 2.

4. REYNOLDS EQUATION FOR
TIME DEPENDENT JOURNAL
BEARINGS

In the treatment of hydrodynamics presented so far,
little mention has been made of load capacity under a
time dependent film thickness, e.g., cases of h/ t 0.
Squeeze film is a term denoting a hydrodynamic film
that sustains a negative h/ t, i.e. when the opposing
surfaces are being squeezed together. An extremely
useful characteristic of squeeze films is that they
provide increased load capacity (although temporary)
when a bearing is suddenly subjected to an abnormally
high load. This feature is essential to the reliability of
crankcase bearings which must withstand transient
combustion forces. A further aspect of squeeze films is
that the squeeze film force is always opposite in
direction to the motion of either bearing surface.
Squeeze film forces contribute to the vibrational
stability of a bearing. To analyze squeeze film forces,
the term h/ t is kept in the Reynolds equation and is
given precedence over the film geometry term h/ x. The
Reynolds equation with the squeeze term is in the form

Assuming an iso-viscous lubricant and zero entraining
velocity, this equation becomes,

This equation defines the hydrodynamic pressure field
when the wedge effect is absent, e.g. when the load
vector rotates as mentioned previously. It can be
integrated in terms of a specified bearing geometry to
provide load capacity, maximum pressure or any other
required bearing characteristic in terms of h/ t. The
squeeze time which means the time required for film
thickness to decline to some critical minimum value can
also be determined by integrating h/ t with respect to
time.

But now t o f i nd t he vel oci t y di st ri but i on &
f l ui d f i l m t hi ckness at a part i cul ar node at
di f f erent t i mes usi ng an osci l l at i ng
vel oci t y, f ol l owi ng changes are made: -
1. Velocity is assumed to be time dependent
(Oscillating function).
2. Load on the journal is assumed to be time
dependent.
3. Finite differences value is changed & made
time dependent.


International Journal of IT, Engineering and Applied Sciences Research (IJIEASR) ISSN: 2319-4413
Volume 2, No. 2, February 2013


i-Xplore International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournals.org
48
5. RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS

1. Velocity (U) v/s Time

2. Dimensionless h
min
v/s Time



Velocity (U) is a function of time change which is an
input parameter. This function is taken as a sine
function of the angle for which the journal rotates with
an angular speed. The total time change for one increase
& decrease function of velocity is taken as 300 seconds.
For the first 150 seconds, the function has an increasing
slope & then for the next 150 seconds, the function of
velocity tends to have a decreasing slope. This is
traversed for the next 300 seconds. Here, velocity is
measured in m/s & the maximum value of velocity (U
O
)
is taken as 1 m/s. Thus, 0-3 time step shows first 150
seconds & the next 150 seconds are shown by 4-6 time
step.
From the graph formed between dimensionless h
min
v/s
time step, a same curve structure is formed as that of
velocity v/s time step curve. This gives rise to a result
that the dimensionless h
min
is a direct function of
velocity. The non-dimensionalising of h
min
is done by
dividing the value of actual h
min
with the clearance
value. Firstly for time step 0-3, which corresponds to
first 150 seconds, the dimensionless h
min
increases upto
a maximum value & then starts decreasing upto 4-6
time step which corresponds to next 150 seconds. This
curve gets the same traversed path for the next 300
seconds also.


6. CONCLUSIONS

1. Dimensionless H
min
is a function of oscillating
velocity.
2. Dimensionless H
min
gets nearly the same curve as
oscillating velocity.

7. REFERENCES

[1] Air Bearing Optimization- Jennifer Egolf, Kyle
Spence
[2] Hydrodynamic Analysis of Compliant Journal
Bearings- Amith Hanumappa Reddy
[3] Hydrodynamic Lubrication of Journal Bearings
Theory Prof. K. Gopinath & Prof.
M.M.Mayuram