105

Inlet suction, a load support mechanism in

non-convergent, pocketed, hydrodynamic bearings
A V Olver1
, M T Fowell1, H A Spikes1, and I G Pegg 2
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College, London, UK
2
Ford Motor Company, Dunton Technical Centre, Laindon, Essex, UK
The manuscript was received on 8 December 2005 and was accepted after revision for publication on 15 February 2006.
DOI: 10.1243/13506501JET168

Abstract: It is shown that a simple parallel pad bearing containing a closed pocket can support
load if it operates in an ambient pressure that is appreciably in excess of the cavitation pressure
of the lubricating fluid. This arises due to fluid flow driven by subambient pressures in the inlet
region of the pad (inlet suction).
Maximum load capacity occurs when the pocket is located near the inlet to the bearing and
under conditions such that cavitation is just provoked.
Keywords: hydrodynamic bearings, texture, pocket, cavitation

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, there has been considerable interest

in the development of hydrodynamic bearings
having very low or zero convergence ratio in which
one of the surfaces is textured with a large number
of tiny pockets or dimples [1, 2]. It has been
suggested, based on both experimental and analytical
work, that such bearings can provide lower friction
when compared with their non-textured equivalents.
At first sight, it is difficult, based on continuity of
flow considerations, to envisage how a zero convergence, isothermal bearing with the same surface separation at inlet and exit and no position between
these two having smaller separation could produce
a pressurized oil film and thus support a load. In
analytical work, this problem is normally circumvented either by assuming that the first pocket overlaps the inlet boundary to provide effective
convergence or by ignoring the presence of the first
inlet land [1, 3, 4]
However, an additional mechanism is presented
here, which does not seem to have been explicitly
recognized. It is shown that a simple parallel pad
bearing containing a single closed pocket can support load if it operates in an ambient (e.g.

atmospheric) pressure that is appreciably in excess

of the cavitation pressure of the lubricating fluid.
This arises due to fluid flow driven by subambient
pressures in the inlet region of the pad (inlet suction). This in turn, generates excess pressure at the
rear of the pocket.
2

ANALYSIS

Figure 1 shows a one-dimensional (infinitely long)

pad bearing containing an inlet land, AB, of breadth
a, a pocket, BC, of breadth b, and an outlet land, CD,
of breadth c. AB and CD are parallel to the lower flat
surface which moves with a steady velocity, U. The
bearing is lubricated by an incompressible, Newtonian fluid of constant viscosity h. The film thickness
in AB and CD is ha and that within the pocket is hp.
The external pressure is p0.
The method of analysis is similar to the standard
continuity of flow approach for a Rayleigh step bearing [5]. The distribution of pressure in all the parallel
sections is, of course, linear in x.
Consider first the situation where there is cavitation in the zone BB0 as a result of the sudden divergence at B, so that p1 pc. This requires the
volume flow in AB to be

Corresponding author: Department of Mechanical Engineering,

Imperial College, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK. email:

a.v.olver@imperial.ac.uk

JET168 # IMechE 2006

Uha
h3 dp Uha
h3 p0  pc

 a
a
2
12h dx
2
12h
a

(1)

Proc. IMechE Vol. 220 Part J: J. Engineering Tribology

106

A V Olver, M T Fowell, H A Spikes, and I G Pegg

Fig. 1

Pocketed, non-convergent, pad bearing

The second term becomes positive because p0 . pc,

so dp=dx , 0.
This flow must be the same for the other sections
of the bearing B0 C and CD, so

can be rearranged to yield the unknown cavitation

breadth, X
bX

h3p

Uha
h3 p0  pc Uhp
p2  pc
a


2
12h
a
2
12h b  X
Uha
h3 p2  p0
a

2
12h
c

(2)

p0  pc
p2  p0

a
c

or

p2  p0

c
(p0  pc )
a

(3)

Provided c . a and the cavitation pressure is low,

this implies that the pressure at the rear of the
pocket, p2, is appreciably greater than ambient
pressure, irrespective of the fluid viscosity, h, or the
speed, U. The central expression in equation (2)

Fig. 2

(4)

The velocity distribution, u(z), through the film is

found in the usual way [5] with the result
u

It follows that

(p2  pc )ah3p
6hUa(hp  ha )  h3a (p0  pc )

1 dp 2
Uz
(z  zh) 
U
2h dx
h

(5)

Typical pressure and velocity distributions are

shown in Fig. 2, the latter showing reflow (u , 0)
within the pocket.
A somewhat deeper pocket is now considered.
However, it is noted that p2 must be unchanged
from equation (3). It therefore follows from equation
(4) that the distance b 2 X (B0 C) increases and hence
X, the breadth of the cavitated zone, must decline.

Distributions of (left) pressure and (right) velocity in the non-cavitated region of the
pocket (B0 C). a 2 mm, b 3 mm, c 15 mm, p0 1 bar, ha 1 mm, hp 10 mm,
pc 0, h 0.01 Pa s, U 1 m/s

Proc. IMechE Vol. 220 Part J: J. Engineering Tribology

JET168 # IMechE 2006

Load support mechanism in bearings

107

Fig. 3 Pressure and velocity distributions for non-cavitating case. Conditions as for Fig. 2 except
hp 21 mm

Eventually, the cavitation zone disappears (X 0) so

that the pressure at B rises above pc and the inlet
pressure gradient is decreased. Under these circumstances, the pressure at B, p1, is given by the
equations
h3p p2  p1
Uha
h3 p0  p1 Uhp
a


2
12h
a
2
12h
b
Uha
h3a p2  p0

2
12h
c

(6)

The corresponding pressure distribution for a noncavitated case is shown in Fig. 3.

The maximum load capacity occurs at the onset of
the cavitation and is again independent of speed and
viscosity. For pc 0
xabc
Pmax

p dx  p0 (a b c)



p0 c b c a b


2
a
c
x0

(7)

Inspection of equation (7) shows that the optimum

position of the pocket is near the inlet of the pad
(c . a), as suggested by Etsion [1]. The maximum
load capacity is finite for given a, b, and c and, provided the conditions and depth of pocket are such
that there is incipient cavitation at B, depends
solely on the geometry and the external ambient
pressure. This contrasts with a convergent pad, for
which the load capacity varies as U h=h2 for a
given convergence ratio and thus rises without limit
as h declines.
JET168 # IMechE 2006

DISCUSSION

It is immediately clear that the behaviour of the present bearing is strikingly different from that of a conventional convergent pad bearing, such as originally
described by Reynolds. On the one hand, the load
capacity is very modest (and finite) compared with
the convergent case, with mean pressures of the
order of a few atmospheres. The load capacity does
not vary rapidly with clearance (ha), although for a
fixed geometry, the pressure in the bearing does
decline slowly if the clearance is increased, so the
system does have some stiffness.
On the other hand, the existence of an appreciable
load capacity without any convergence strongly
suggests that useful reductions in friction (at low
load) may be obtained in very low convergence bearings. In addition, the fact that the capacity rises with
ambient pressure (even after the load resulting from
the ambient pressure on the rear of the pad has been
subtracted) means that the behaviour may be
especially important in bearings operating at elevated ambient pressure, such as piston liner contacts
in engines.
This remarkable behaviour is the result of two
factors: the continuity of volume flow through
the bearing and the flow due to suction created
by subambient pressure in the pocket. The latter
mechanism is not normally considered in lubrication and is, of course, negligible in the convergent
case.
Brajdic-Mitidieri et al. [6] recently analysed a low
convergence pocketed pad using computational
fluid dynamics (CFD). The results showed rather
similar pressure and velocity distributions to those
Proc. IMechE Vol. 220 Part J: J. Engineering Tribology

108

A V Olver, M T Fowell, H A Spikes, and I G Pegg

given in this article. The present analysis shows that

this is not a consequence of the more complex features of CFD, although, of course, the effective
value of the cavitation pressure is critical.

CONCLUSIONS

By considering the simple case of a non-converging,

hydrodynamic, pad bearing containing a single
pocket, it is shown that load support can be generated if the ambient pressure exceeds the cavitation
pressure. This arises because of oil flow from inlet
suction.
The phenomenon is likely to be important in lowload bearings containing closed pockets, cavities, or
dimples, especially if the ambient pressure is high.
Optimum load capacity requires the pocket to be
located near the inlet to the bearing and to have a
depth such that cavitation is just provoked at the
entry to the pocket.

REFERENCES
1 Etsion, I. Improving tribological performance of
mechanical components. Tribol. Lett., 2004, 17, 733
737.
2 Ryk, G., Kligerman, Y., and Etsion, I. Experimental
investigation of laser surface texturing for reciprocating
automotive components. Tribol. Trans., 2002, 45,
444 449.

Proc. IMechE Vol. 220 Part J: J. Engineering Tribology

3 Tnder, K. Hydrodynamic effects of tailored inlet

roughnesses: extended theory. Tribol. Int., 2004, 37,
137 142.
4 Hamilton, D. B., Walowit, J. A., and Allen, C. M. A theory
of lubrication by micro-irregularities. J. Basic Eng., 1966,
88, 177 185.
5 Cameron, A. Basic lubrication theory, 1981, pp. 76 78
(Ellis Horwood, Chichester).
6 Brajdic-Mitidieri, P., Gosman, A. D., Ioannides, E., and
Spikes, H. A. CFD analysis of a pocketed pad bearing. J.
Tribol., 2005, 127, 803 812.

APPENDIX
Notation
a
b
c
ha
hp
p0
p1
p2
pc
u
U
x
X
z

breadth of inlet land, AB

breadth of pocket, BC
breadth of exit land, CD
film thickness at lands, AB and CD
film thickness in pocket, BC
external ambient pressure
pressure at B
pressure at C
cavitation pressure
velocity of fluid
speed of flat surface
distance coordinate in sliding direction
breadth of cavitated zone, BB0
distance coordinate in film thickness direction

viscosity

JET168 # IMechE 2006