Research on the lubricated characteristics of journal bearing based on finite element method and mixed method
Wenjie Zhou, Yifan Wang, Guangkuan Wu, Bo Gao, Bin Zhang
Abstract
In order to study the lubricated characteristics of journal bearing, a new numerical method including finite element method (FEM) and mixed method is provided in this paper. Based on the FEM and variation principle, the equivalent integral form of static Reynolds equation is proposed and solved accurately by an iso-parametric element with eight nodes. Moreover, the mixed method including dichotomy and secant method is chosen to calculate the equilibrium position of journal bearing. The calculated results obtained by this new model are validated by comparing with those results calculated by previous model including finite difference method (FDM). The maximum margin of relative error is less than 1.6%. Furthermore, the effects of diameter, lubricant viscosity and external load on the equilibrium position and inner pressure are further researched. Besides, the stiffness and damping coefficients of journal bearing is preliminarily calculated. The theoretical model and calculated results can provide useful references for the design of journal bearing and rotor coupled system.