Thermal analysis of dry sleeve bearings - a comparison between analytical,numerical (finite element) and experimental results

Thermal analysis of a plastic sleeve bearing in dry operation was investiga ted experimentally by Floquet ct al. [Trans. ASME. J. Lubr. Technol. 99 (19 77) 277]. For a comparison with the experimental results, Kennedy [Trans. A SME, J. Tribol. 103 (1981) 90] developed a numerical approach using the fin ite element method (FEM) that included the development of finite element eq uations for the case of a moving body heat conduction. In this investigatio n. both the experimental results of Floquet [Docteur-Ingenier thesis, Unive rsite Claude Bernard, Lyon, 1978] and the numerical results of Kennedy were compared with the results of the analytical method developed using the cla ssical heat source method introduced by Jaeger [Proc. Roy. Sec. NSW 76 (194 2) 203] and the heat partition principles of Blok [Proc. Inst. Mech. Engrs. 2 (1937) 222], which involves matching of the temperatures on either side of the contact interface. The non-uniform distribution of heat partition (a s one body is stationary and the other moving) along the interface is addre ssed by matching the temperatures at the interface between the stationary a nd the moving bodies in relative sliding contact using the functional analy sis approach originally introduced by Chao and Trigger [Trans. ASME 72 (195 5) 1107]. The analytical results are found to be in excellent agreement wit h both the experimental and the numerical results. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd. All rights reserved.