Effect of micropolar lubrication in non-circular hole-entry hybrid journal bearing with constant flow valve restrictor

Abstract

Purpose In the present scenario of high-speed machines, the use of non-circular hole-entry bearing configuration, i.e. two-lobe, multi-lobe, lemon bore, etc., has becomes unavoidable, as the journal bearings with non-circular configurations provide better stability at high operating speed and heavy dynamic loading. Further, this research aims to show that the presence of micro particles in the lubricants greatly affects performance of the bearings, as their presence leads to non-Newtonian behaviors of the lubricant. Therefore, to consider the effect of these micro particles, the lubricant is modeled as a micropolar lubricant. The present work analyzes the effect of these micropolar lubricants on the performance of hole-entry circular and non-circular (two-lobe) hybrid journal bearings compensated with constant flow valve restrictor and compares with that of Newtonian lubricants. Design/methodology/approach The modified Reynolds equation governing the laminar flow of iso-viscous, incompressible micropolar lubricant in the clearance space of a journal bearing system has been solved using finite element method and appropriate boundary conditions. Further, a comparative analysis between circular and non-circular (two-lobe) hybrid journal bearing compensated with constant flow valve restrictor operating with Newtonian and micropolar lubricant has been presented. Findings The numerically simulated results reveal that the non-circular bearing configuration provides better performance vis-à-vis the circular bearing configuration. Further, the increase in the micropolar effect of the lubricant enhances the performance of circular and the non-circular bearing configurations compared with the Newtonian lubricant. Also, in the case of the non-circular bearing configuration with an offset factor (δ = 1.5), the bearing performance improved compared with (δ = 1.25). Originality/value Many research studies have been done in the area of non-circular hybrid journal bearing with Newtonian lubricants with different types of restrictors, but the non-circular hole-entry constant flow valve-compensated hybrid journal bearing operating with the micropolar lubricant has not been analyzed. Therefore, in the present work, an effort has been made to fill this research gap.