THERMOHYDRODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF FINITE-WIDTH JOURNAL BEARINGS WITH NON-NEWTONIAN LUBRICANTS

This paper presents a thermohydrodynamic solution for a finite width h ydrodynamic journal bearing with non-Newtonian lubricants, obeying the power-law model. In this treatment the oil film viscosity is taken to be an exponential function of temperature. The modified Reynolds equa tion is solved numerically by using a control volume method (Elrod alg orithm). A perturbation method is then adopted to deal with the equati ons of motion and the integro-differential energy equation and the ana lysis becomes easier by replacing the conduction terms in terms of the convective boundary conditions at two solid surfaces. As a result, fo r shear-thickening fluids (n>1), the toad-carrying capacity, temperatu re and pressure distribution are increased, while for pseudoplastic fl uids (n<1) they are all decreased. In addition, thermal effects are fo und to be more pronounced at higher values of flow behaviour index n, eccentricity and slenderness ratios.