Effect of percolation on hydrodynamic lubrication of rough bilayer porous bearing with circular contact

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to study the hydrodynamic lubrication of rough bilayer porous bearing to reveal the effect of percolation.

Design/methodology/approach

The seepage lubrication model of the circular bilayer porous bearing was established in polar coordinates. The digital filtering technique and Darcy’s law were used to simulate the rough surface and the percolation characteristic of the oil bearing, respectively. The influence of the structural parameters on the lubrication performance was analyzed.

Findings

Compared with the ordinary monolayer oil bearing with high porosity, the bilayer bearing can reduce the whole porosity, prevent oil infiltrating into the porous medium and have better lubrication performance. The lubrication performance of bilayer oil bearing is better than that of the single-layer oil bearing which has a higher porosity. With increasing root-mean-square roughness or decreasing surface porosity, the lubrication performance of the bilayer bearing improves. The lower the porosity of the surface layer, the better the lubrication performance.

Originality/value

This research provides a theoretical basis for clarifying the lubrication mechanism and influence the mechanism of the bilayer oil bearing.

Citation

Zhang, G., Tong, B., Yang, S., Shi, L. and Yin, Y. (2020), "Effect of percolation on hydrodynamic lubrication of rough bilayer porous bearing with circular contact", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 72 No. 1, pp. 109-115. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-06-2019-0210