Tribology International

Manuscript Draft
Manuscript Number: TRIBINT-D-11-00126
Title: Influence of micropolar lubricants on the performance of slot-entry hybrid journal bearing
Article Type: Full Length Article
Keywords: Non-recessed journal bearings, Micropolar lubricant, Slot entry, Finite element method
Abstract: A theoretical study concerning the slot-entry hybrid journal bearing lubricated with
micropolar lubricants is presented. The modified Reynolds equation for micropolar lubricant is solved
using Finite Element Method along with equation of lubricant flow through slot-entry restrictors as a
constraint together with appropriate boundary conditions. It has been observed that a slot-entry
hybrid journal bearing operating with micropolar lubricant shows an increase in the value of minimum
fluid film thickness and a reduction in the value of coefficient of friction as compared to a
corresponding similar slot-entry hybrid journal bearing operating with Newtonian lubricant.

*Statement of Originality

Dated: 06/04/2011
Statement of Originality

To,
The Associate Editor,
Tribology International
Dear Editor,
I am here with confirm that paper Influence of micropolar lubricants on the performance of
slot-entry hybrid journal bearing submitted for consideration for the publication in the
journal Tribology

International is an original study done by the authors. To the best

knowledge of authors the study in the present article has not been published earlier in any journal
by the authors or anybody else.

With regards
Nathi Ram
Ph.D Scholar
Tribology Lab, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee India
Uttarakhand - 247667

*Research Highlights

Research highlights

The manuscript is an analytical study of the influence of micropolar lubricants on the

performance of Slot-Entry Hybrid Journal Bearing. The modified Reynolds equation based on
Eringens micropolar fluid theory has been solved using Finite Element Method along with
equation of lubricant flow through slot-entry restrictors as a constraint. The bearing performance
characteristics parameters have been presented for the chosen bearing operating and geometric
parameters. The numerically simulated results in general showed that a bearing with a higher
micropolar effect provides improved bearing performance.

*Manuscript
Click here to view linked References

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Influence of micropolar lubricants on the performance of

slot-entry hybrid journal bearing
Satish C. Sharma1

Nathi Ram2*

Professor

Ph.D Scholar

Email: sshmefme@iitr.ernet.in

n.r.jaan10@gmail.com

1. Tribology Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute

of Technology, Roorkee, Uttarakhand - 247 667, India, Phone No. +91-01332 286609
2. Tribology Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute
of Technology, Roorkee, Uttarakhand - 247 667, India Mobile No. 91-9286224056 Fax No. +9101332 285665

ABSTRACT
A theoretical study concerning the slot-entry hybrid journal bearing lubricated with micropolar
lubricants is presented. The modified Reynolds equation for micropolar lubricant is solved using
Finite Element Method along with equation of lubricant flow through slot-entry restrictors as a
constraint together with appropriate boundary conditions. It has been observed that a slot-entry
hybrid journal bearing operating with micropolar lubricant shows an increase in the value of
minimum fluid film thickness and a reduction in the value of coefficient of friction as compared
to a corresponding similar slot-entry hybrid journal bearing operating with Newtonian lubricant.

Keywords: Hybrid journal bearings, Micropolar lubricant, Slot entry, Finite element method

Nomenclature
diameter of the bearing, mm
fluid-film reaction ( h t 0 ), N
fluid-film reaction ( h t 0 ), N
bearing length, mm
bearing flow, mm-3s-1
* Author for correspondence

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radial length of slot; axial width of slot, mm

radius of journal; bearing, mm
slot width ratio,
external load, N

bearing land width; circumferential extent of slot, mm

radial clearance; eccentricity; fluid-film thickness, mm

number of rows of slots; number of slots per row

pressure, Nmm-2
time, s
cartesian coordinates
coordinates of steady state equilibrium journal center from geometric centre of bearing,

Greek Symbols
material coefficient, N s; spin viscosity, N s m-2

journal rotational speed; threshold speed, rad s-1

dynamic viscosity of lubricant, Nsm-2; aspect ratio,

Non-dimensional parameters
damping coefficients,
slot-restrictor design parameter,
( ,

( ,

min)

(h, hmin)/c

( ,

max)

(p, pmax)/ps
Q(/c3ps

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stiffness coefficients
o

Wo/ps

( J,

J)

(XJ, ZJ)/c

(, )

(X, Y )/RJ, circumferential, axial coordinates

* ,

concentric design pressure ratio, p/ps; t(c2ps/R2J )

eccentricity ratio,

Matrices
[ ]

fluidity matrix

{ }

nodal pressure vector

{ }

nodal flow vector

vector due to hydrodynamic terms

}, {

} vectors due to journal center velocities

Subscripts and superscripts

0, J
R

, s

steady state solution, journal

restrictor, supply
corresponding non-dimensional parameter

1. Introduction
It is well known that the addition of small amount of long chain polymer solution to a
Newtonian lubricant increases its lubricating effectiveness, most of engine oil contains such
additives. Further, it is also experienced that during the operation of machines standard
lubricants under general operating conditions become heavily contaminated with suspended
metal particles or dirt. Therefore, they start exhibiting non-Newtonian behavior. Under such
circumstances, the classical theory of Newtonian fluid is not applicable and it requires the
application of micropolar fluid theory to the lubrication problems. Shires and Dee [1] were
among the first one to introduce the concept of slot-entry journal bearings. The slot-entry journal

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bearing is primarily a non-recessed journal bearing configuration in which no external restrictor

is required as shown in Fig 1. The slot restrictors in this type of journal bearing are made by a
slotted shims fabricated into bearing. Currently they are finding increasing applications owing to
a number of advantages including an improved load carrying capacity, higher stiffness and
damping over conventional recessed bearing, accurately predictable performance and improved
tolerance of manufacturing errors. Slot-entry bearings are generally used for grinding wheel
spindles, where gas bearings tends to be used for lightly loaded spindles and liquid bearing for
heavily loaded applications.
In recent times the slot-entry journal bearings have been investigated thoroughly. Many studies
concerning these classes of bearings have been reported in literature [1-13]. The available studies
deal with the various aspects concerning the slot-entry journal bearings. Rowe et al. [2] carried
out a theoretical comparison of the performance characteristics of slot-entry journal bearing with
that of a conventional hydrodynamic and recessed hydrostatic journal bearing system. It was
reported that the slot-entry journal bearings provide much improved performance as compared to
hydrodynamic and recessed hydrostatic bearings. Rowe and Koshal [3] experimentally
demonstrated the effects of power factor, concentric design pressure ratio, number of pockets
and misalignment on the load carrying capacity of journal bearing. They pointed out that the slotentry journal bearings are more suitable for heavily loaded conditions including high dynamic
loading. Rowe and Koshal [4] presented a new technique for optimizing hybrid journal bearings.
The method involved the comparison of the bearings to be optimized with a reference bearing on
the basis of load/total power, load/ pumping power and load/flow. Rowe et al. [5] further studied
the performance characteristics of hybrid journal bearings with a particular reference to the holeentry configurations. Ives and Rowe [6] presented a theoretical study on the performance of slot
entry hybrid journal bearings operating in the super laminar flow regimes. They concluded that
the optimization of slot-entry journal bearings provides the reduced magnitude of load/total
power in super laminar regime as compared to laminar regime. In recent years, a study by
Sharma et al. [7-11] deals with various issues such as bearing shell flexibility, effect of nonlinear behavior of the lubricant, type of bearing configuration and influence of thermal effects etc
concerning the performance of a slot-entry journal bearings. A recent study by Garg et al. [1213] deals with the performance characteristics of hole-entry and slot-entry hybrid journal

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bearings with different control flow devices by considering the combined influence of thermal
effects and non-Newtonian behavior of the lubricant.
Micropolar fluids contain a suspension of particles with individual motion. These particles
support body stress and body moments. The earliest formulation of a consistent theory of fluid
microcontnua was attributed to Eringen [14,15]. Eringen [14] introduced a new class of fluids
called microfluids. A simple microfluid is a viscous medium whose properties and behavior are
affected by the local micromotions of particles in its microvolume. He discussed special cases in
which gyrations are small and micro-deformation rates are linear and also obtained partial
differential equations of the constitutively linear theory. For the sake of mathematical simplicity,
Eringen [15] later on simplified this theory to that of micropolar fluids which exhibit the
microratational effects as well as microroational inertia. The theory of micropolar fluids is
focused on the fluids consisting of rigid, randomly oriented particles suspended in viscous
medium and deformation of particles is ignored.
As the complete removal of dirt and metal particles from lubricant during the normal
bearing applications is rather not possible. Thus, it becomes imperative to use micropolar
lubricant model for the analysis of the performance of bearing. A good practical example of
using micropolar model is in the design of journal bearings in the area of Nuclear power plant
where the heat transfer agent Sodium is used as a lubricant [18]. Several investigators used the
micropolar fluid theory to study the various bearing systems such as porous bearings [16-17],
squeeze film bearings [18-21] and journal bearings [22-31]. Isha and Zaheeruddin [16] carried
out an analysis of one-dimensional porous journal bearings lubricated with micropolar fluid.
They found that the load carrying capacity increased and coefficient of friction decreased as
micropolar parameter characterizing the concentration of substructures in lubricant due to
presence of additives increased. Zaheeruddin [17] analyzed squeeze film narrow porous journal
bearings using a lubricant containing solid particle additives and characterized as a micropolar
fluid. They found that load carrying capacity and squeezing time increases as the micropolar
parameter characterizing the concentration of the microstructure imparted to the lubricant by the
additives increases. A study by Agrawal et al. [19] investigated theoretically squeeze films
between two infinitely long rectangular plates, circular plates and externally pressurized bearings
using a micropolar fluid as lubricant. Prakash and Sinha [20] investigated theoretically squeeze
films in journal bearings using a micropolar fluid as a lubricant. The effects of microstructure

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were elaborated through graphs. A comparison was made between full and half journal bearings.
A comparison of half and full journal bearing results showed a similar qualitative trend.
Ramanaiah and Dubey [21] considered slider profile which gives the maximum load carrying
capacity for a slider bearing lubricated with a micropolar fluid. It was reported that an optimum
load carrying capacity increases with an increase in coupling parameter. Prakash and Sinha [22]
carried out the steady state analysis for infinitely long hydrodynamic journal bearing lubricated
with micropolar lubricant. They demonstrated the effect of microstructure through various
graphs. It was found that the prominent feature of a micropolar fluid is an increased effective
viscosity especially in thin films. Huang [23] analyzed theoretically the performance of finite
width journal bearings lubricated with micropolar fluids using finite difference method. It was
reported that at higher operating eccentricity ratio, a bearing operating with micropolar lubricants
shows an increase in load carrying capacity and reduction in the value of coefficient of friction.
Bessonov [24-25] derived a generalized Reynolds equation taking into account all possible
variations in boundary viscosity and microrotations near the friction surface. A study by Das et
al. [26] deals with the analysis of steady state characteristics of misaligned hydrodynamic journal
bearing lubricated with micropolar lubricant. It was concluded that the bearing lubricated with
micropolar lubricants provides higher load carrying capacity, higher misalignment moment and
lower friction parameter as compared to a corresponding similar bearing lubricated with
Newtonian lubricant. A numerical study dealing with finite hydrodynamic journal bearing
lubricated with micropolar fluids has been undertaken by Wang and Zhu [27] considering both
thermal as well as cavitation effects. The modified Reynolds equation and energy equations were
derived using the Eringens micropolar fluid theory. The Reynolds equation was solved by using
the Elords cavitation algorithm. A recent study reported by Verma et al. [28] concerns with fourpocket hydrostatic journal bearing compensated with a constant flow valve operating with
micropolar lubricants reveals that micropolar parameters significantly affects the performance
characteristics of multirecess hydrostatic journal bearing. Very recently, a theoretical study by
Rajasekhar and Sharma [29] deals with the influence of wear on the performance of four-pocket
capillary compensated hydrostatic journal bearing operating with micropolar lubricant. It was
reported that a bearing lubricated with lubricant having higher micropolar effect provide better
static and dynamic performance characteristics as compared to a corresponding similar bearing
lubricated with Newtonian lubricants. The effect of deformation of bearing liner on static and

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dynamic performance characteristics of two-lobe elliptical journal bearing operating with

micropolar lubricant was analyzed by Prabhakaran et al. [30]. Their study suggested that when
the value of deformation coefficient increases, the stability threshold speed margin of journal
bearing system gets affected significantly for Newtonian as well as micropolar lubricated
bearings especially at higher operating eccentricity ratio. A study dealing with the performance
of two, three and four-lobe noncircular journal bearing configurations lubricated with micropolar
lubricant was recently studied by Rahmatabadi et al [31]. Their study revealed that the
micropolar lubricant can produce significant enhancement in the static performance
characteristics.
From the above review, it has been observed that there is no study yet available or reported in
literature which considers use of micropolar lubricants in slot-entry journal bearings. Thus, the
present study is aimed to investigate the influence of micropolar lubricants on the performance of
slot-entry journal bearings as shown in Fig.1. The modified Reynolds equation has been solved
using FEM. The influence of micropolar parameters

on the slot-entry journal bearing has

been presented as a function of slot restrictor design parameter

. The study is expected to be

useful to the bearing designers and to the academic community.

2. Analysis
Fig.1 shows the slot-entry journal bearing configuration. The incompressible flow of
micropolar lubricant in the clearance space between the surfaces of a journal and bearing is
governed by Reynolds equation and in the non-dimensional form is expressed by the following
expression [29]
(1)
where,

,
and

are known as the micropolar parameters which characterize a micropolar

lubricant. The dimensionless parameter

is called a coupling number which couples linear and

angular rotational motion arising out of microrotational effects of suspended particles in the
lubricant. The parameter

represents the interaction between the micropolar lubricant and film

gap or clearance space of journal bearing and is termed as the characteristic length of micropolar

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lubricant. The micropolar effect of lubricant is said to increase with a decrease in the value of
parameter
when

and increase in the value of

approaches to infinity and

. The lubricant behaves as if a Newtonian lubricant

to zero.

2.1 Fluid film thickness

The fluid film thickness expression for a journal bearing with reference to a fixed coordinate axis
is given by the following expression as [7]
(2)
where

and

are equilibrium coordinates of the journal centre.

2.2 Finite element formulation of Reynolds equation

The computational domain i.e. lubricant flow field in the clearance space of journal
bearing has been discretized using four noded quadrilateral isoparametric elements. The pressure
at any node point in the element is bilinearly distributed and is expressed using the Lagrangian
Interpolation function, is approximated as
(3)
Using the approximate value of , Eq. (1) can be expressed as:
(4)
Where

is known as residue. The element equations are obtained by applying Galerkins

technique. Minimization of the residue by orthogonalizing it with the interpolation function i.e.,
(5)
Integrating the second order term in Eq. (5) by parts to obtain Co continuity and differentiating
Eq. (2) with respect to t , the resulting equation for typical element is obtained in matrix form as
follows [28,29]
(6)
where,
=

(6a)

(6b)

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(6c)

(6d)

(6e)

where

and

are direction cosines, and i, j =1,2,

(number of nodes per element) are the

node numbers.
2.3 Restrictor flow equation
The flow of the lubricant

through slot restrictor is expressed as [6]:

(7)

The above equation is reduced to non-dimensional form and is expressed as [7, 8]

(8)
The parameter

is called a slot-restrictor design parameter.

2.4 Performance characteristics

The bearing performance characteristics parameters in terms of maximum fluid film pressure,
minimum fluid film thickness, bearing flow, attitude angle, direct fluid film stiffness and
damping coefficients and stability threshold speed margin have been computed using expressions
as reported in reference [29].
Coefficient of friction
The non dimensional frictional force acting on the journal surface can be obtained by
integration of the shear stress around the journal surface and can be expressed as [27]
(9)
where
(9a)
The coefficient of friction can be obtained by dividing friction force by fluid film force
and can be expressed as [27]
(10)
Fluid-film stiffness coefficients
Fluid film stiffness coefficients have been evaluated using the expressions given as

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(11)
where
= direction of force or moment.
= direction of journal centre displacement
Fluid-film damping coefficients
Fluid film damping coefficients have been evaluated using the expressions given as
(12)
where

represents the velocity component of journal centre

2.5 Boundary conditions for flow field

The following boundary conditions have been assumed to solve the modified Reynolds equation
applicable for the micropolar lubrication phenomena in the slot-entry journal bearings:
1. The nodal flows are zero at internal nodes except those situated on slots and external
boundaries.
2. Flow of lubricant through the slot-entry restrictor is equal to the bearing input flow at
slot.
3. At the bearing edge, the pressure is equal to the ambient pressure

4. At the trailing edge of positive region

according to Swift-Stiber cavitation condition.

3. Solution procedure
An iterative numerical procedure has been adopted in the present study which is briefly
discussed as follows:
(1) The lubricant flow field is discretized with rectangular mesh of 24 by 7 divisions which is
equally spaced in

and

directions respectively. This mesh has a total number of 144

quadrilateral isoparametric elements consisting of 168 nodes.

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(2) Initially the tentative values of journal center coordinates

are fed as an input to

compute the fluid film thickness that is required for the computation of fluid film
pressures

(3) Using the nodal values of fluid film thickness

, the element fluidity matrices of Eqn.

(6) are generated.

(4) The lubricant flow field system Eqn. (6) together with the slot restrictor flow Eqn. (8) as
a constraint is used to establish the matched steady state fluid film pressure field

(5) The boundary conditions are applied to Eqn. (6).

(6) The modified system equations for specified boundary conditions are solved for nodal
pressures by using the Gauss elimination technique.
(7) For a specified vertical external load

, an additional iterative loop is required to

establish the equilibrium journal centre position. The iterative process continues until the
following convergence criterion is not satisfied:

where

are the coordinates of the

journal centre position.

(8) After converged solution, the static and dynamic bearing characteristics of a slot-entry
journal bearing system are computed.

4. Result and discussion

The analysis and solution algorithm as described in the previous sections have been used to
compute the performance characteristics of a slot-entry hydrostatic journal bearing system
operating with micropolar lubricant. A source code using Fortran77 program using the FEM has
been developed to solve the governing equation for the slot-entry hybrid journal bearing
operating with micropolar lubricant. The validity of computed results obtained from the
developed program is established in two stages. In the first stage, the fluid film reaction

of a

slot-entry journal bearing is computed and compared with the available results of Rowe et al [5].
Fig. 2(a) shows the good agreement between the results. In the second stage, the value of fluid
film reaction

has been compared with already published results of Wang et al. [27] in case

of hydrodynamic journal bearing operating with both Newtonian and micropolar lubricants as

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shown in Fig. 2(b). The results obtained from the present analysis compares well with the
already published results of Wang et al. [27]. A maximum deviation of nearly 5-7%, which may
be attributed to different computation techniques used between the two studies.
As

and

are the two important characteristics parameters of micropolar lubricants, the

results are presented for the effects of different values of

and

on the performance of slot-

entry hybrid journal bearing and also presented as a function of restrictor design parameter
. The percentage variation in bearing performance characteristics parameters due to
micropolar lubricant effect vis a vis bearing lubricated with newtonian lubricant have been
shown in Table 1 & 2. The numerically simulated results in this study have been obtained using
the following bearing operating and geometric parameters as has been generally used in the
available literature [7,8,10]: Bearing aspect ratio () = 1.0; Land width ratio

= 0.25; Speed

parameter () = 1; No. of rows of slots = 2; No. of slots per row = 12; Slot width ratio
0.25-0.75; External load

= 0.5-1.5; Slot restrictor design parameter

= 0.05-0.30.

Based on the analysis and solution algorithm as described in earlier sections, the numerically
simulated results have been obtained. The results are presented through Figs.2 to Figs.12.

4.1. Influence on maximum fluid film pressure

Fig. 3 shows the variation of maximum fluid film pressure
micropolar lubricant

with characteristic length of

. It is observed from Fig. 3(a) that the value of

of coupling number

increases for all values of

. When the bearing is operating with

micropolar lubricant at higher value of coupling number

increase by 16.84% at

increases as the value

, the value of

is found to

as compared to the bearing operating with Newtonian lubricant.

Further, it is observed that the value of maximum pressure increases with increase in the value of
coupling number

or decrease in characteristics length of micropolar lubricant

bearing configuration studied. This increase in the value of

for a journal

is due to increase in the viscosity

caused by additives.

4.2. Influence on minimum fluid film thickness

It may be observed from Fig. 4(a) that the value of minimum fluid film thickness
an increase in characteristic length of micropolar lubricant

reduces with

. However, the value of

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21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
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35
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increases as the value of coupling number

increases for a given external load

. The

similar trend for the value of minimum fluid film thickness was observed for a constant flow valve
compensated four pocket hydrostatic journal bearing by Verma et al. [28] and for an orifice
compensated multirecess hybrid journal bearing with triangular shape of recess by Nicodemus and
Sharma [29]. The percentage increase in the value of

is found to be order of 9.30% for a

bearing operating with micropolar lubricant corresponding to larger value of coupling number
at

as compared to the bearing operating with Newtonian lubricant. It may be

observed from Fig. 4(b) that with an increase in the value of slot restrictor design parameter
the value of

decreases for a bearing operating with either newtonian or micropolar lubricant.

The percentage of reduction in the value of

parameter at

is found to be 19.18% for slot restrictor design

when a bearing is lubricated with Newtonian lubricant as compared to

corresponding similar bearing operating at lower value of

. However, the value of

gets increased by 9.08% with restrictor design parameter at

larger value of micropolar parameters at

for a bearing operating with

and

as compared to corresponding

similar bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant operating at

4.3. Influence on friction coefficient

Fig. 5(a) shows the variation of the friction coefficient
micropolar lubricant

as a function of characteristic length of

for the various values of coupling number

. It has been observed that

when the bearing is lubricated with micropolar lubricant, the value of coefficient of friction
decreases as the value of characteristic length of micropolar lubricant
value of

decreases and also the

is higher for the bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant. Further, it is also

observed that the coefficient of friction decreases with an increase in micropolar effect for journal
bearing configuration studied. This behavior is similar to the pattern observed in earlier studies for
the case of hydrodynamic journal bearing [22,26,29,31]. Fig. 5(b) shows the variation of
slot restrictor design parameter

with

. It is observed that the percentage of increase in the value of

is around 5.47% with an increase in slot restrictor design parameter

for a bearing

lubricated with Newtonian lubricant. However, the value of coefficient of friction reduces for
increasing value of

when the bearing is lubricated with micropolar lubricant as compared to

corresponding similar bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant.

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4.4. Influence on bearing flow

Fig. 6(a) & (b) shows the variation of lubricant flow
lubricant

and restrictor design parameter

versus characteristic length of micropolar

. Fig. 6(a) reveals that the value of lubricant flow

increases as the characteristic length of micropolar lubricant

number

and also the value of

increases for all values of coupling

is more for a bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant. The

most interesting observation is that the flow of lubricant reduces when the bearing is operating with
micropolar lubricant corresponding to an increase in the value of coupling number

for the

journal bearing configuration studied. This behavior is similar to the pattern reported in already
published work of Prakash and Sinha [22]. Further, it may also be noticed that the maximum
percentage of reduction in the value of lubricant flow

is found to be order of 27.91% for a

bearing operating with micropolar lubricant corresponding to the larger value of coupling number
at

as compared to the bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant. It is

observed from Fig. 6(b) that for a bearing operating with either Newtonian or micropolar lubricant,
the value of lubricant flow

increases with an increase in the value of restrictor design parameter

. Further, the value of lubricant flow

increases significantly with increase in the value of

when a bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant. However, maximum percentage of reduction
in the value of

is 58.17% for a bearing lubricated with micropolar lubricant corresponding to

larger value of micropolar effect

and

at

as compared to

corresponding the similar bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant when operating at
.

4.5. Influence on Attitude angle

Fig. 7(a) shows the variation of attitude angle
lubricant

versus characteristics length of micropolar

. It is observed that the value of attitude angle increases significantly with an increase

in the value of coupling number

. However, it may be observed that the value of attitude angle

decreases with an increase in the value of characteristic length of micropolar lubricant but the value
of attitude angle is lower for a bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant. Further, it may be
noticed that the maximum percentage of increase in the value of attitude angle

is found to be

8.13% for a bearing lubricated with micropolar lubricant corresponding to large value of coupling
number

at

as compared to the similar bearing lubricated with Newtonian

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lubricant. It may be noticed from Fig. 7(b) that the value of attitude angle

decreases drastically

by 12.18% with an increase in the value of restrictor design parameter up to

increased marginally at

then gets

for a bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant as compared

to the similar bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant operating at

4.6. Influence on fluid film stiffness coefficients

Fig. 8(a) and Fig. 9(a) show the variation of direct fluid film stiffness coefficients

with

characteristic length of micropolar lubricant

. It is

for the different values of coupling number

observed from Fig. 8(a) that the value of direct fluid film stiffness coefficient

increases

drastically with an increase in characteristic length of micropolar lubricant for

then

decreases corresponding to larger value of coupling number

but the value of

is

higher for a bearing lubricated with micropolar lubricant in comparison to the bearing lubricated
with Newtonian lubricant. Fig. 8(b) indicates that direct fluid film stiffness coefficient
shows the increasing trend for restrictor design parameter

first

then a decreasing trend is

observed for a bearing lubricated either with micropolar lubricant corresponding to coupling
number

at

exists an optimum value of

or Newtonian lubricant. An interesting observation is that there

which gives the reduced value of

when a bearing is lubricated

with micropolar lubricant as compared to the bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant. The
similar trend for the value of direct fluid film stiffness coefficient
9(a) as observed in Fig. 8(a) for the value of
direct fluid film stiffness coefficient
cross-coupled coefficients

has been observed from Fig.

. Fig. 9(b) shows the similar trend for the value of

as observed in Fig. 8(b) for the value of

. The bearing

have also been computed. They have not been presented for the

sake of brevity.

4.7. Influence on fluid film damping coefficients

The variation of direct fluid film damping coefficients

with characteristic length of

micropolar lubricant is shown in Fig. 10(a) and Fig. 11(a). It may be observed from Fig. 10(a) that
the value of fluid film damping coefficient

decreases with increase in the value of characteristic

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length of micropolar lubricant

number

. However, the value of

increases as the value coupling

increases. The similar behavior has been observed for an orifice compensated

multirecess hybrid journal bearing with triangular shape of recess by Nicodemus and Sharma [29].
The percentage increase in the value of

for the fixed value of external load

is found to

be order of 15.88%, 25.29%, 34.66% and 44.37% for a bearing operating with micropolar lubricant
corresponding to coupling numbers

at

respectively as compared to

the bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant. Further, Fig. 10(b) shows that the value of
damping coefficient

reduces by 39.51% with an increase in restrictor design parameter

for a bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant. However, the value of

gets compensated with restrictor design parameter

when the bearing is operating with

micropolar lubricant as compared to the bearing operating with Newtonian lubricant. A similar
trend for the value of direct fluid film damping coefficient
micropolar lubricant

with characteristic length of

is observed from Fig.11 (a) as noticed for the value of

in Fig. 10(a).

Fig. 11(b) shows the maximum percentage reduction in the value of damping coefficient
around 42.37% with increase in restrictor design parameter
lubricated with Newtonian lubricant. However, this value of
design parameter

is

to 0.30 when the bearing is

gets compensated with restrictor

for a bearing lubricated with micropolar lubricant as compared to

corresponding similar bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant. The bearing cross-coupled
damping coefficients

have also been computed, however their variation is not shown for

the sake of brevity.

4.8. Influence on stability threshold speed margin

It is may be noticed from Fig. 12(a) that the value of stability threshold speed margin

increases

drastically with an increase in value of characteristics length of micropolar lubricant for

then reduces gradually for a bearing operating with micropolar lubricant corresponding to the larger
value of coupling number at

. However, when the bearing is operating with micropolar

lubricant in general an improved value of

is obtained as compared to the corresponding similar

bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant. The variation of stability threshold speed margin
with restrictor design parameter

is shown in Fig. 12(b). It is noticed that that the value of

reduces by 12.47% with increased value of restrictor design parameter at

for a bearing

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operating with newtonian lubricant as compared to the similar bearing operating at

However, the value of
parameter at

further decreases by 15.40% and 19.03% with restrictor design

for a bearing operating with micropolar lubricant corresponding to

micropolar effect of

and

respectively as compared to the

corresponding similar bearing lubricated with Newtonian lubricant and operates at lower value of
.

5. Conclusions
A numerical study of a slot-entry hybrid journal bearing system operating with micropolar lubricant
has been carried out. The modified Reynolds equation together with the slot-entry restrictor
equation is solved using FEM. From the presented results following conclusions can be deduced:
1. The performance of a symmetric slot-entry hybrid journal bearing operating with
micropolar lubricant changes significantly vis a vis the Newtonian lubricant.
2. The value of minimum fluid film thickness
at an increased value of coupling number

gets enhanced when the bearing operates

as compared to the bearing operating with

Newtonian lubricant. An increase in the value of

the value of

results in lower value of

whereas

gets increased by 9.08% with restrictor design parameter at

and

vis a vis the bearing operating with Newtonian lubricant at

3. It is observed that for a bearing operating with micropolar lubricant, the maximum
percentage of reduction in the value of coefficient of friction
of 24.94% corresponding to

at

is found to be of the order

vis a vis the bearing lubricated with

Newtonian lubricant.
4. It has been observed that a slot-entry hybrid journal bearing lubricated with micropolar
lubricants/Newtonian lubricant with

value around 0.1 provides the maximum value of

direct fluid film stiffness coefficients

. However, for a chosen value of

, the

change in the values of micropolar lubricants affects the values of fluid film stiffness
coefficients appreciably.
5. The bearing lubricated with micropolar lubricant is better from the point of view to damp
out oscillations. For a chosen value of
coefficients

, the values of direct fluid film damping

gets enhanced with an increase in the value of coupling number

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6. The stability threshold speed margin of a slot entry hybrid journal bearing lubricated with
micropolar lubricants is generally found to be higher than that of bearing lubricated with
Newtonian lubricants. Higher value of

provides the largest value of stability

threshold speed margin.

References
[1] Shires GL, Dee CW. A generalized Reynolds equation for fluid film lubrication. Int J Mech
Eng Sc 1962;4:159-70.
[2] Rowe WB, Koshal D, Stout KJ. Slot-entry bearings for hybrid hydrodynamic and hydrostatic
operation. J Mech Eng Sc 1976;18(2):73-8.
[3] Rowe WB, Koshal D. Investigation of recessed hydrostatic and slot-entry journal bearings
for hybrid hydrodynamic and hydrostatic operation. Wear 1977;43(1):55-69.
[4] Rowe WB, Koshal D. A New basis for the optimization of hybrid journal bearings. Wear
1980;64 (1):115-31.
[5] Rowe WB, Xu S, Chong FS, Weston W. Hybrid journal bearing with particular reference to
hole-entry configurations. J Tribol Int 1982;15:339-48.
[6] Ives D, Rowe WB, The performance of hybrid journal bearings in the super laminar flow
regimes. STLE Tribol Trans 1992;34(3):465-71.
[7] Sharma Satish C, Kumar Vijay, Jain SC, Subramanian M. A study of slot-entry
hydrostatic/hybrid journal bearing using the finite element method. J Tribol Int 1999;32:18596.
[8] Sharma Satish C, Jain SC, Reddy NMM. Influence of elastic effects on the performance of
slot-entry journal bearings. J Tribol Int 1999;32:537-55.
[9] Sharma Satish C, Jain SC, Sah PL. Effect of non-Newtonian behaviour of lubricant and
bearing flexibility on the performance of slot-entry journal bearing. J Tribol Int 2000;33:50717.
[10] Sharma Satish C, Jain SC, Reddy NMM. A study of non-recessed hybrid flexible journal
bearing with different restrictors. STLE Tribol Trans 2001;44(2):310-17.
[11] Sharma Satish C, Kumar Vijay, Jain SC, Nagaraju T, Giriraj Prasad. Thermohydrostatic
analysis of slot-entry hybrid journal bearing. J Tribol Int 2002;35:561-77.

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65

[12] Garg HC, Kumar Vijay, Sharda HB. Performance of slot-entry hybrid journal bearings
considering combined influences of thermal effects and non-Newtonian behavior of
lubricant. J Tribol Int 2010;43:1518-31.
[13] Garg HC, Kumar Vijay, Sharda HB. A comparative thermal analysis of slot-entry and holeentry hybrid journal bearings lubricated with non-Newtonian lubricant. J Tribol-Trans ASME
2010;132:041701-11.
[14] Eringen AC. Simple microfluids. Int J Eng Sc 1964;2:205-17.
[15] Eringen AC. Theory of micropolar fluids. J Math Mech 1966;16 (1):1-18.
[16] Isa M, Zaheeruddin KH. One-dimensional porous journal bearings lubricated with
micropolar fluid. Wear 1980;63:257-70.
[17] Zaheeruddin KH. Squeeze-film narrow porous journal bearings lubricated with a micropolar
fluid. Wear 1980;64:163-74.
[18] Balaram M. Micropolar squeeze films. J Lubr Technol Trans ASME 1975;635-37.
[19] Agrawal VK, Ganju KL, Jethi SC. Squeeze film and externally pressurized bearings
micropolar fluid lubricated. Wear 1972;19:259-65.
[20] Prakash J, Sinha P. A study of squeezing flow in micropolar fluid lubricated journal bearings.
Wear 1976;38:1728.
[21] Ramanaiah G, Dubey JN. Optimum slider profile of a slider bearing lubricated with a
micropolar fluid. Wear 1977;42:1-7.
[22] Prakash J, Sinha P. Lubrication theory of micropolar fluids and its application to a journal
bearing. Int J Eng Sc 1975;13:217-32.
[23] Huang TW. Analysis of finite width journal bearings with micropolar fluids. Wear
1988;123:1-12.
[24] Bessonov NM. A new generalization of the Reynolds equation for a micropolar fluid and its
application to bearing theory. J Tribol Int 1994a;27(2):105-8.
[25] Bessonov NM. Generalized Reynolds equation for micropolar fluid with microrotations near
surface and its application to journal bearings. ASME J Tribol 1994b;116:654-57.
[26] Das S, Guha SK, Chattopadhyay AK. On the steady-state performance of misaligned
hydrodynamic journal bearings lubricated with micropolar fluids. J Tribol Int 2002;35:20110.

1
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[27] Wang XL, Zhu KQ. Numerical analysis of journal bearings lubricated with micropolar fluids
including thermal and cavitating effects. J Tribol Int 2006;39:227-37.
[28] Verma Suresh, Kumar Vijay, Gupta KD. Analysis of multirecess hydrostatic journal bearing
operating with micropolar lubricant. J Tribol-Trans ASME 2009;131:1-9.
[29] Nicodemus E Rajasekhar, Sharma Satish C. Influence of wear on the performance of
multirecess hydrostatic journal bearing operating with micropolar lubricant. J Tribol-Trans
ASME 2010;132:1-11.
[30] Nair KP, Nair VPS, Jayadas NH. Static and dynamic analysis of elasto-hydrodynamic
elliptical journal bearing with micropolar lubricant. J Tribol Int 2007;40:297-305.
[31] Rahmatabadi AD, Nekoeimehr M, Rashidi R. Micropolar lubricant effects on the
performance of noncircular lobed bearings. J Tribol Int 2010;l43:404-13.

Figure(s)

Figure Captions
Figure No.
1

Description
Schematic of a slot-entry journal bearing system

2(a),(b)

Variation of

Variation of

with

4(a)

Variation of

with

4(b)

Variation of

with

5(a)

Variation of

with

5(b)

Variation of

with

6(a)

Variation of

with

6(b)

Variation of

with

7(a)

Variation of

with

7(b)

Variation of

with

8(a)

Variation of

with

8(b)

Variation of

with

9(a)

Variation of

with

9(b)

Variation of

with

10(a)

Variation of

with

10(b)

Variation of

with

11(a)

Variation of

with

11(b)

Variation of

with

12(a)

Variation of

with

12(b)

Variation of

with

with

Figure(s)

Fig. 1 Schematic of a slot-entry journal bearing system

Figure(s)

0.5
Double Row Slot-Entry Journal
Bearing(12 Slots per Row)

ab L 0.25, L D 1, 0.5, 0

0.4

0.3
Present
Ref. [ 5]

0.2

0.1

0
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

Fig. 2(a) Variation of

0.4
with

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

12
Present
Ref. [27]

10

Hydrodynamic Journal Bearing

lubricated with Micropolar lubricant

8
Fo(KN)
6

Newtonian
N2=0.2,lm=20

4
2
0
0.2

0.3

0.4

Fig. 2(b) Variation of

0.5 0.6
with

0.7

0.8

Figure(s)

1.3
1.25
1.2
1.15
1.1
1.05
1
0.95
0.9
5

10

15

20

Fig. 3 Variation of

with

25

30

35

40

Figure(s)

0.89

0.87

0.85

0.83

0.81

0.79

0.77

0.75
5

10

15

Fig. 4(a) Variation of

20
with

25

30

35

40

0.85

0.8

0.75

0.7

0.65

0.6
0.05

0.1

0.15

Fig. 4(b) Variation of

0.2
with

0.25

0.3

Figure(s)

9
8.5
8
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
5

10

15

Fig. 5(a) Variation of

20
with

25

30

35

40

9.5

8.5

7.5

7
0.05

0.1

0.15

Fig. 5(b) Variation of

with

0.2

0.25

0.3

Figure(s)

1.1

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5
5

10

15

Fig. 6(a) Variation of

20
with

25

30

35

40

1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.05

0.1
Fig. 6(b) Variation of

0.15
with

0.2

0.25

0.3

Figure(s)

76

74

72

70

68

66

64

62
5

10

15

Fig. 7(a) Variation of

20
with

25

30

35

40

72

70

68

66

64

62

60

58
0.05

0.1

0.15

Fig. 7(b) Variation of

with

0.2

0.25

0.3

Figure(s)

2.8

2.75

2.7

2.65

2.6

2.55

2.5

2.45
5

10

15

Fig. 8(a) Variation of

20
with

25

30

35

40

2.95

2.55

2.15

1.75

1.35
0.05

0.1
Fig. 8(b) Variation of

0.15
with

0.2

0.25

0.3

Figure(s)

3.15

2.85

2.7

2.55
5

10

15

Fig. 9(a) Variation of

20
with

25

30

35

40

3.1

2.9

2.7

2.5

2.3

2.1

1.9
0.05

0.1

0.15

Fig. 9(b) Variation of

0.2
with

0.25

0.3

Figure(s)

26

22

18

14

10
5

10

15

Fig. 10(a) Variation of

20
with

25

30

35

40

19

17

15

13

11

7
0.05

0.1

0.15

Fig. 10(b) Variation of

0.2
with

0.25

0.3

Figure(s)

24

22

20

18

16

14

12

10
5

10

15

Fig. 11(a) Variation of

20
with

25

30

35

40

19

17

15

13

11

0.05

0.1

0.15

Fig. 11(b) Variation of

0.2
with

0.25

0.3

Figure(s)

2.82

2.8

2.78

2.76

2.74

2.72

2.7
10

15

20

Fig. 12(a) Variation of

25
with

30

35

40

2.85

2.7

2.55

2.4

2.25

2.1
0.05

0.1

0.15

Fig. 12(b) Variation of

0.2
with

0.25

0.3

Table(s)

Table Captions
Table No.

Description

Percentage change in bearing characteristics parameters due to change in

micropolar parameters and external load
Percentage change in bearing characteristics parameters due to change in
micropolar parameters and slot width ratio

Table(s)

Table 1: Percentage change in bearing characteristics parameters due to change in

micropolar parameters and external load
.
S.No.

PCH

Newtonian

Micropolar lubricant

lubricant

N 2 0.3, l m 10

N 2 0.3, l m 30

N 2 0.7, l m 10

N 2 0.7, l m 30

p m ax

50.41686

60.05978

54.56977

70.67799

57.36983

hm in

-17.7022

-14.3885

-16.1543

-11.3364

-15.1842

Cf

1.347081
-65.3758

5.186173
-69.2603

2.552625
-66.73

8.204511
-71.4501

3.251034
-67.4547

S 22

-7.16076
0.886525

-3.25815
4.078014

-4.36806
3.652482

-1.14572
5.638298

-2.61368
5.35461

7
8

C 22

6.547619
3.051471

22.88462
19.42096

13.42491
9.908088

42.59158
38.77757

18.20513
14.62316

th

-42.6433

-41.7159

-41.8634

-41.2521

-41.3997

3
4
5
6

For Newtonian, percentage change in PC

For Micropolar lubricant, percentage change in PC

Table 2 Percentage change in bearing characteristics parameters due to change in

micropolar parameters and slot width ratio
.
S. No. PCH Newtonian

Micropolar lubricant

lubricant

N 2 0.3, l m 10

N 2 0.3, l m 30

N 2 0.7, l m 10

N 2 0.7, l m 30

p m ax

3.576658

9.485463

6.149341

16.24137

7.906296

hm in

-2.70199

1.854305

-0.56954

6.066225

0.781457

Cf

1.347797
0.73193

4.976322
-10.7274

2.483348
-3.29369

7.82451
-17.2347

3.140598
-5.45517

S 22

-11.7624
-10.0879

-6.71037
-6.46749

-8.56151
-7.27592

-3.27806
-4.11248

-6.51755
-5.4833

7
8

C 22

-6.20541
-7.66143

8.740868
7.902248

0.094542
-1.15947

27.23679
26.69461

4.520842
3.362469

th

-5.10842

-3.12385

-3.63837

-1.80081

-2.71959

3
4
5
6

For Newtonian, percentage change in PC

For Micropolar lubricant, percentage change in PC