Thermohydrodynamic performance of convergent slider bearings using different placement of square micro-textures and slip boundary

Abstract

Abstract The present numerical study investigates the thermohydrodynamic performance of inclined/convergent slider bearings using different placing of textures and slip region. Mass-conserving Elrod cavitation model with slip boundary is used to analyze the static performance variables. Due to better fluid retain-ability, Square-shaped micro-textures have been used. The slip coefficient for the slip boundary on the bearing surface is taken as 9 μm. As reported previously for convergent bearings, the optimal convergence ratio (K) value for maximum bearing performance lies between 1 and 1.4. Therefore, in the present paper, the value of K is taken as 1.2. It was observed that the location of micro-textures and slip boundary greatly influence the bearing performance. When textures and slip regions are placed near the inlet region of the bearing, with a reduction in shear stress and the availability of the lubricant near the inlet, the resistance to the lubricant flow reduces, increasing lubricant intake. Further, for partial slip bearing, an abrupt obstruction to the lubricant flow occurs at the location of the slip/no-slip interface, which increases the hydrodynamic pressure and improves the load-bearing capacity of the bearing. Moreover, due to less friction observed, various slip-textured bearings showed a reduction in the average lubricant temperature compared to conventional bearing. In the end, an updated combined slip-textured bearing surface is presented for maximum bearing performance in terms of different performance variables. The findings of the current work would be helpful for researchers in selecting the optimum slip-textured surface for inclined slider bearings under the current operating conditions.