Hydrodynamic Lubrication Performance Analysis of the Self-Cooled Bearing Structure in Aero-Gear Pump Considering the Cavitation Effect

In this paper, a load coupling numerical method is developed to analyze the performance of the journal bearing considering the internal flow simulation inside aero-engine gear pump. First, three-dimensional flow analysis is conducted. Then based on the JFO theory, an improved hybrid scheme including switch function is used to solve Reynolds equation while the external load given by the simulation result of the gear pump. The robust, convergence and validation of algorithm is tested compared with the experiment result where the pressure maximum error less than 2%. Finally, parametric study on different groove structure and working conditions of an aero-gear pump bearing has been presented to assess the performance features of the bearing hydrodynamic lubrication problem. The result shows that the effect of external load on bearing was dependent on eccentricity. In addition, the pressure distribution in bearing was markedly affected by the oil groove structure where relative pressure difference at 5% and inlet pressure is proportional to maximum pressure.