Surface Texturing한 평행 스러스트 베어링의 열유체윤활 해석: 딤플 반경과 깊이의 영향

Abstract

In order to reduce friction and improve reliability, researchers have applied various surface texturingmethods to highly sliding machine elements such as mechanical seals and piston rings. Despite extensive theoreticalresearch on surface texturing, previous numerical results are only applicable to isothermal and iso-viscousconditions. Because the lubricant flow pattern of textured bearing surfaces is much more complicated thanthat for non-textured bearings, the Navier?Stokes equation is more suitable than the Reynolds equation for theformer. This study carries out a thermohydrodynamic (THD) lubrication analysis to investigate the lubricationcharacteristics of a single micro-dimpled parallel thrust bearing cell. The analysis involves using the continuity,Navier?Stokes, energy, temperature?viscosity relation, and heat conduction equations with the commercial computationalfluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. This study discretizes these equations using the finite volumemethod and solves them using the SIMPLE algorithm. The results include finding the streamlines, pressure andtemperature distributions, and variations in the friction force and leakage for various dimple radii and depths. Increasing the dimple radius and decreasing the depth causes a recirculation flow to form because of a strongvortex, and the oil temperature greatly increases compared with the non-textured case. The present numericalscheme and results are applicable to THD analysis of various surface-textured sliding bearings and can lead tofurther study.