Incompressible Elastic Viscous Lubricants in Continuous-Sleeve Journal Bearings

Abstract

A perturbation procedure is used to find the first effects of elasticity in a lubricating fluid on the performance of the bearing. This is achieved by considering an incompressible Maxwell-type material with a small elastic effect in a continuous sleeve journal. The relationship between the external lateral load on the journal and the eccentricity is given. The parameter which measures the extent of the elastic influence on the solution is pro-proportional to (viscosity)(speed of rotation)/(elastic shear modulus)(clearance). For most liquid lubricants in standard practicing situations, the effects of elasticity other than compressibility are negligible. The solution shows that the classical normality between the eccentric displacement and lateral loading expected for incompressible fluids is not preserved when the fluid has elastic effects.