CFD BASED DESIGN TECHNIQUES FOR THERMAL PREDICTION IN A GENERIC 2-AXIAL GROOVE HYDRODYNAMIC JOURNAL BEARING

There are many physical parameters that influence the thermal conditio n of a hydrodynamic journal bearing. This remains the case even when a ppropriate nondimensionalization procedures have been applied However, two dimensionless parameters are particularly useful, since they embo dy lubricant shearing convection, conduction and viscosity temperature variation. In this paper these parameters are varied to obtain design charts for the maximum bearing shell and journal temperatures. Comput ational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques are used in this process. They are applied to a generic two-axial groove circular bearing having a s ection of journal that extends beyond the width of the shell. The resu lts demonstrate the usefulness of the charts through example design st udies.