Application of dynamic mesh technology in the oil film flow simulation for hydrostatic bearing

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to obtain the lubrication characteristics of heavy hydrostatic bearing in heavy equipment manufacturing industry through theoretical analysis and numerical simulation.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper discusses the influence of oil film thickness variation on velocity field, outlet-L and outlet-R flow velocity under the hydrostatic bearing running in no-load 0 N, load 400 KN, full load 1,500 KN and rotating speeds of 10 r/min, 20 r/min, 30 r/min, 40 r/min, 50 r/min and 60 r/min, by using dynamic mesh technology and FLUENT software.

Findings

When the working table rotates clockwise, in the change process of oil film thickness, the fluid flow pattern of the lubricating oil at the edge of the sealing oil is the rule of laminar flow, and the oil cavity has a vortex. The outlet-R flow velocity becomes higher and higher by increasing the bearing load and working table speed, and the flow velocity increases with the decrease in oil film thickness; the outlet-L flow velocity increases with the decrease in oil film thickness under low rotating speed (less than 10 r/min) condition and decreases with the decrease of oil film thickness under high rotating speed (more than 60 r/min) condition.

Originality/value

The influence of the oil film thickness on the flow state distribution of the oil film was analyzed under different working conditions, and the influence rules of oil film thickness on the flow velocity of hydrostatic bearing oil pad was obtained by using dynamic mesh technology.

Citation

Zhang, Y., Zhang, Z., Kong, X., Li, R. and Jiang, H. (2019), "Application of dynamic mesh technology in the oil film flow simulation for hydrostatic bearing", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 71 No. 1, pp. 146-153. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-08-2017-0222