Two-Dimensional Analysis of Herringbone Groove Journal Bearings

Abstract

Potential flow theory based on the complex variables familiar to the two-dimensional analysis of inviscid flow has been applied to the flow of grooved journal bearings. The idea of a densely distributed surface source has been successfully introduced to deal with the continuously varying film thickness. Thus, the method reported in the authors' previous papers has been extended to make it possible to deal with a more complicated problem. The calculations are carried out assuming an incompressible fluid and small eccentricity of the axis. Load capacity, damping factor, stiffness and the film force in the case of whirl have been evaluated and compared with narrow groove theory. Also calculated two-dimensionally is the pressure distribution in the film.