Optimal Design of Lubricated Journal Bearing Under Surface Roughness Arrangement

Journal bearings as machine elements have always been of particular interest due to widespread applications. However, high level of power loss limits the reliability of lubricated journal bearing. The current paper explores the possibility of employing the artificial roughness in bearing in order to enhance performance behavior based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. The hydrodynamic performance is calculated by Navier-Stokes equation coupled with continuity equation with finite volume method. In order to obtain more accurate results, the multiphase cavitation model is also considered in the computation. The hydrodynamic pressure as well as the load support is presented for two kinds of loading (low vs high) varying the surface roughness levels. The results show that for heavy loaded bearing, the surface roughness has an important influence on the lubrication characteristics of the bearing, while for light loaded one, the surface roughness effect is not so significant. This study contributes to the improvement of the journal bearing performance.