THE INVESTIGATION OF THERMOHYDRODYNAMIC CHARACTERISTIC OF SINGLE AXIAL GROOVE JOURNAL BEARINGS WITH FINITE LENGTH BY USING CFD TECHNIQUES

Abstract

The three-dimensional steady state thermohydrodynamic (THD) analysis of an axial grooved oil journal bearing is obtained theoretically. Navier–Stokes equations are solved simultaneously along with turbulent kinetic energy and its dissipation rate equations coupled with the energy equation in the lubricant flow and the heat conduction equation in the bush. The AKN low-Re κ–ε turbulence model is used to simulate the mean turbulent flow field. Considering the complexity of the physical geometry, conformal mapping is used to generate an orthogonal grid and the governing equations are transformed into the computational domain. Discretized forms of the transformed equations are obtained by the control volume method and solved by the SIMPLE algorithm. The numerical results of this analysis can be used to investigate the pressure distribution, volumetric oil flow rate and the loci of shaft in the journal bearings. To validate the computational results, comparison with the experimental and theoretical data of other investigators is made, and reasonable agreement is found.