Evaluation of the contact strength and durability of plain bearings with different types of shaft lobing

Abstract

The generalized cumulative model of wear is employed to solve the tribocontact problem for plain bearings where journals have small lobing (ovality, trilobing, tetralobing). The case of mixed-area contact interaction between the shaft and bush is examined. The study investigates the effect of lobing both on variations in the maximum contact pressures during a full revolution of the shaft and on bearing durability. Regularities concerning this effect are determined. It was found that lobing causes a significant increase in the contact pressures depending on the extent of shaft out-of-roundedness and type of lobing. Specifically, ovality increases the bearing durability by 1.32 times; compared to the durability of a bearing with a circular section shaft, trilobing increases the bearing durability by 1.25 times, whereas tetralobing decreases the bearing durability even by 1.2 times.