A Theoretical Investigation of Compliant Surface Journal Bearings

Abstract

The problem of the compliant surface journal bearing is investigated. The mathematical problem is divided into two parts, the elasticity problem and the fluid problem. The equations of linear elasticity, which represent the elasticity problem, are solved; (a) by expansion of the solution in eigenfunctions (b) by the Raleigh Ritz method, and (c) by a collocation method. Reynolds’ equation, which represents the fluid problem, is then coupled with the solution to the elasticity problem. The corresponding finite difference representation of Reynolds’ equation, which is a set of fourth-order nonlinear algebraic equations, is inverted by Newton iteration. Finally, numerical results are presented.