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The purpose of this paper is to improve hydrodynamic load-carrying capacity of a water-lubricated journal bearing by a new bush structure. Water-lubricated bearing is becoming more and more popular since it is environmentally friendly and saves energy. However, contrary to oil and grease-lubricated bearings, water-lubricated bearing is limited in many situations due to its low hydrodynamic load-carrying capacity.

The present article proposes a new bearing bush, with a transition-arc structure, which is favorable for increasing hydrodynamic load-carrying capacity. Hydrodynamic load-carrying capacity was calculated by means of three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3-D CFD) analysis. Several variants of a journal bearing with a transition-arc structure of different dimensions are analyzed, while the radial clearance of the bearing, eccentricity ratio and the velocity of the journal remain unchanged.

The results show that obvious changes are found in hydrodynamic load-carrying capacity of a water-lubricated journal bearing. For different width over diameter (L/D) bearing ratios, the relationship between hydrodynamic load-carrying capacity and the magnitude of the transition-arc structure dimension is researched.

The research presented here leads to a design reference guideline that could be used by the designer engineer to design smart journal bearings for improving the hydrodynamic load-carrying capacity.

This work aims to explore the combined effects of boundary slip and texturing on hydrodynamic journal bearings and identifies optimized slip and texture patterns to improve the performance of journal bearings.

The quadratic programming technique is used to study the influence of boundary slip on the lubrication performance of a two-dimensional journal bearing. A numerical model is used to analyze the effect of the cylindrical texture shape on the characteristics of journal bearings. It is concluded that the combination of slip and texture can be an effective approach to improve the performance of hydrodynamic journal bearings.

The results show that there is an interfacial shear stress (perfect slip surface) and that the role of the slip regime is to reduce friction. Numerical analyses indicate that the location and size of the slip and texture zone have a large effect on journal bearings. A comparison of the distribution forms of various texture–slip combinations indicates that the full texture–slip combination can prominently reduce the load-carrying capacity and that the “forward-slip backward-texture” configuration can considerably improve the performance of journal bearings.

The combined effects of boundary slip and texture on hydrodynamic journal bearings are meticulously examined. The patterns of the slip and texture are optimized, which can substantially improve the journal bearing performance.

The main purpose of the study is to develop a theoretical model being capable of analysing the sealing and hydrodynamic‐hydrostatic lubrication mechanisms occuring between the mating surfaces of mechanical face seals.

The theoretical model developed is based on solving the governing basic lubrication equation (Reynolds differential equation) by employing a finite difference method. The main lubrication machanism is assumed to be converging‐diverging wedge which is formed by the relative tilt of the sealing surfaces. The non‐dimensional Reynolds equation was solved to give the pressure distribution and consequently the load and moment acting on the movable seal ring. The aim of the model is to predict the non‐dimensional hydrodynamic and hydrostatic load carrying capacity of the system.

Theoretical model developed is capable of estimating the hydrodynamic and hydrostatic behaviour of mechanical radial face seals. It is shown that a converging‐diverging wedge mechanism produces hydrodynamic pressure which in turn maintains the seperation of the surfaces. The tilt appears to be caused mainly by bearing misalignment. It has been shown that hydrostatic load or pressure centre is an important parameter for load balance of moving seal ring. It is easy and useful to calculate the dimensional parameters defined taking into account the different geometrical and operating parameters.

This paper offers a quick and easy opportunity to examine the hydrodynamic behaviour of movable seal ring of a mechanical face seal and provides a considerable contribution to the lubrication and sealing research area. With the general theoretical model developed, the behaviour of the seal ring can be modelled and estimated.

This study aims to simulate the influence of surface texturing produced via turning process toward pressure distribution and load capacity generation using computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

The dimple geometry was obtained via turning process, to be used for future application on piston skirt surfaces. Two cases were studied: a preliminary study using single periodic dimple assuming linear dimple distribution and an application study using multiple periodic dimples to address actual dimple orientation following the turning process.

For the first case, the dimple was proven to generate load capacity with regard to untextured surface, owing to the asymmetric pressure distribution. Increasing the Reynolds number, dimple width and dimple depth was found to increase load capacity. For the second case, although load capacity increases via surface texturing, the value was 97.4 per cent lower relative to the first case. This confirmed the importance of doing multiple dimple simulations for real applications to achieve more realistic and accurate results.

A new concept of dimple fabrication using a low-cost turning process has been developed, with a potential to increase the tribological performance under hydrodynamic lubrication. Previous CFD simulations to simulate these benefits have been done using a single periodic dimple, assuming equal distribution array between dimples. However, due to the different orientations present for dimples produced using turning process, a single periodic dimple simulation may not be accurate, and instead, multiple dimple simulation is required. Therefore, present research was conducted to compare the results between these two cases and to ensure the accuracy of CFD simulation for this type of dimple.

Water lubrication is significant for its environmental friendliness. Composite journal bearing is liable to deform for the huge pressure of water film. This paper aims to study the influence of elastic deformation on how lubrication functions in water-lubricated journal bearings and to provide references for designing composite journal bearings.

The combination of computational fluid dynamics and fluid-structure interaction is adopted in this paper to study the lubrication performance of water-lubricated compliant journal bearings. The influences of elasticity modulus and Poisson’s ratio on load-carrying capacity and elastic deformation are studied for different rotational speeds. Predictions in this work are compared with the published experimental results, and the present work agrees well with the experimental results.

A reference whether elastic deformation should be considered for composite journal bearings is proposed under different working conditions. Besides, a reference to determine water-lubricated plain journal bearings dimensions under different loads and rotational speeds is developed with the effect of both elastic deformation and cavitation being accounted.

The present research provides references as to whether elastic deformation should be considered in operation and to determine compliant journal bearings’ dimensions in the design process.

This paper studies elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) of line contacts for the slide‐roll ratios 0‐2 based on the assumptions of interfacial shear strength and interfacial slip. It is shown that the viscoelastic, viscoplastic and non‐continuum fluids distribute from the inlet zone to the Hertzian contact zone in order for a given operating condition when the load and rolling speed exceed critical values. For the rolling speed below the critical, the distributing fluids from the inlet zone to the Hertzian contact zone in order are viscoelastic and non‐continuum when the load exceeds a critical value. These show a multirheological behavior EHL film, formed in a contact, which may represent a mode of mixed lubrication. For this mode of lubrication, the fluid model should handle both inlet and Hertzian contact zones where the fluids are, respectively, continuum and non‐continuum. A new EHL analysis and theory, therefore needs to be established.

An electrorheological (ER) fluid comprises dielectric particles suspended in an insulating viscous medium. ER lubricants are considered smart lubricants. They have been applied in hydraulic valves, power transmission devices and damping systems. The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance of hydrostatic thrust bearing operating with ER lubricant.

Reynold’s equation was used to model the flow of the ER lubricant in the bearing. The continuous Bingham model was used to express the viscosity of the ER lubricant as a function of yielding stress, applied electric field and shear strain rate. The Reynolds equation is solved using the finite element method (weighted residual approach) to compute the film pressure as a primary variable and the lubricant flow rate, load-carrying capacity, stiffness and damping parameters as associated performance indices.

The effects of the pocket shape, compensating elements and ER lubricant on the bearing performance were investigated. The application of ER lubricant significantly enhanced the load-carrying capacity (48.2%), stiffness (49.8%) and damping (4.95%) of the bearings. Circular and triangular pocket bearings with constant-flow valves have been reported to provide better steady-state and rotor-dynamic performances, respectively.

This study presents the effect of an ER lubricant on the rotor-dynamic performance of hydrostatic thrust bearings with different pocket shapes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of bio-based lubricants (BBL), namely, palm mid-olein (PMO) enriched with an antioxidant agent, tertiary-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) and a viscosity improver, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), in journal bearing (JB) applications.

Samples of the BBL were prepared by blending it with TBHQ and EVA at various blending ratios. The oxidative stability (OS) and viscosity of the BBL samples were examined using differential scanning calorimetry and a viscometer, respectively. Meanwhile, their performance in JB applications was evaluated through the use of a JB test rig with a 0.5 length-to-diameter ratio at various operating conditions.

It was found that the combination of PMO + TBHQ + EVA demonstrated a superior oil film pressure and load-carrying capacity, resulting in a reduced friction coefficient and a smaller attitude angle compared to the use of only PMO or VG68. However, it was observed that the addition of TBHQ and EVA to the PMO did not have a significant impact on the minimum oil film thickness.

The results would be quite useful for researchers generally and designers of bearings in particular.

This study used PMO as the base stock, and its compatibility with TBHQ and EVA was investigated in terms of its OS and viscosity. The performance of this treated BBL was evaluated in a hydrodynamic JB.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-11-2023-0363/

The journal bearings subjected to heavy load and slow speed operate in mixed lubrication regime causing contact between the interacting surfaces and resulting in wear. Complexity of wear behavior and lack of unifying theory/model make wear-control very challenging.

In the present research work, theoretical and experimental investigations have been conducted to explore the effect of grooving arrangements on the wear behavior of journal bearing operating in mixed lubrication regime. The theoretical model of Hirani (2005) that uses mass conserving cavitation algorithm has been used to determine the bearing eccentricity for different groove arrangements (with varying groove location and extent) for identifying a groove arrangement that minimizes the wear. The wear tests on the grooved bearings were conducted after suitable running-in of the new bearings on a fully automated journal bearing test set-up. A load and speed combination required to operate the bearing in mixed lubrication was used. The performance of different arrangement of bearing was evaluated by measuring their weight loss after the test.

Wear was significantly reduced with the use of proper groove arrangement for a bearing operating in mixed lubrication regime.

The improvement in bearing performance by providing grooves has been the subject matter of several studies in the past, but these studies were confined to the hydrodynamic operative regime of the bearing. In the present work, seven different combinations of axial and radial groove arrangement were tried, which has not been reported in any other work.

THE ability to calculate oil film thickness has proved to be a big step forward in evaluating the load carrying capacity of plain bearings under dynamic load. Even if factors such as shaft and housing deformation, modification of viscosity with pressure and inadequate filling of the film in the diverging areas are not taken into account in calculation, there is a good correlation between the theoretical results and the oil film thickness measurements.