MULTISCALE HYDRODYNAMICS IN INCLINED FIXED PAD THRUST SLIDER BEARING WITH INHOMOGENEOUS SURFACES

Abstract

For two different and inhomogeneous surfaces, the flow equations for multiscale hydrodynamics involving the boundary layer flows are different from those for two identical and homogenous surfaces. The analysis is presented for the hydrodynamic inclined fixed pad thrust slider bearing with two different and inhomogenous surfaces with low bearing clearances, where both the adsorbed boundary layer flows and the intermediate continuum fluid flow should be considered. Based on the governing equations, the pressure and carried load of the bearing were derived. The calculation results show the performance of the studied bearing different from the bearing with homogeneous surfaces. It was found that by taking the stationary surface in the inlet zone as hydrophobic (or oilphobic) while that in the outlet zone as hydrophilic (or oilphilic), the load-carrying capacity of the bearing can be significantly improved if the bearing clearance is such that the multiscale flow regime occurs and the tilting angle of the bearing is sufficiently small, e.g., no more than 1 × 10^-4 rad.