Numerical Calculation of Composite Water Lubricated Bearing Considering Effect of Elastic Deformation

Abstract

Abstract Traditional bearing design neglects the influence of elastic deformation of materials on bearing lubrication characteristics, based on a new type of polymer composite water-lubricated bearing materials, the influence of elastic deformation of bearing material is introduced into the simulation. The lubrication performance of the water-lubricated bearings is studied with respect to material parameters and structural parameters. The effects of the elastic deformation on the lubrication characteristics such as the maximum pressure value and the minimum film thickness were compared and analyzed under different bearing clearance structures of a certain type of stern bearings. The results show that, the maximum water film pressure of bearing increases with the clearance ratio, and the maximum water film pressure of elastic bearing is less than that of rigid bearing. With the increase of clearance ratio, the elastic deformation of bearing increases linearly. The increase of bearing elastic deformation results in the difference between minimum water film thickness and maximum water pressure between the elastic bearing and rigid bearing.