A NEW MODEL FOR COMBINED COUETTE AND POISEUILLE FLOWS IN THE TRANSVERSE GROOVE OF A PLANE INCLINED SLIDER BEARING

Although extensive research has been performed on the grooving of hydr odynamic bearings, there is much to be done on the flow interactions n ear to and in axial grooving. This work was initiated when the pressur e boundary conditions were unknown for the case of a journal bearing w ith multiple axial grooves each being fed by an external lubricant sou rce. This work is a forerunner to a more extensive research programme using journal bearings, A new technique has been devised to calculate the pressure profile across and along an axial groove. There is a stro ng pressure flow along the groove and Couette and pressure flow in the direction of sliding. Good correlation between experimental results a nd theoretical predictions for a wide range of operating conditions ha s been achieved. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.