Shear-Thinning and piezoviscous lubricant behavior of spiral grooved hybrid thrust pad bearing configurations

Abstract

The present study investigates the effects of shear-thinning and piezoviscous lubricant on the behavior of inwardly and outwardly spiral grooved hybrid annular thrust pad bearing configurations. The performance of spiral grooved circular and annular hybrid thrust pad bearing configurations with a capillary restrictor is also compared in this study. The influence on fluid film reaction, lubricant flow rate, fluid film stiffness, and damping coefficients have been carried out. The numerically simulated results show that the synergistic effect of spiral grooves and shear-thinning and piezoviscous behavior of the lubricant, have a significant impact on lubrication performance. The maximum percentage difference in the value of fluid film stiffness between outwardly spiral grooved annular recessed hybrid thrust pad bearing with non-Newtonian lubricant and inwardly spiral grooved annular recessed hybrid thrust pad bearing with Newtonian lubricant is found to be 80.6 percent.