Abstract
The influence of the different distributions of magnetic fields on the characteristics of the journal bearing lubricated with ferrofluid is investigated through numerical simulation. It is found that the characteristics of the journal bearing, such as the pressure distribution, the load capacity and the cavitation region, have strong dependence on the distribution of the magnetic field in the clearance of the bearing. Moreover, the influence of the angular momentum of the particles in ferrofluid on the characteristics of the bearing has the same order as that of the magnetic force and cannot be neglected in the case that the magnetic field distribution is inhomogeneous both in the axial direction and in the radial direction of the bearing, while a lot of former researches ignore the angular momentum of the particles and suppose a parabolic distribution of magnetic field.
