The Effect of the Fluid Film Variable Viscosity on the Hydrostatic Thrust Spherical Bearing Performance in the Presence of Centripetal Inertia and Surface Roughness

Abstract

In response to the importance of the industry great need to the hydrostatic thrust spherical bearing, this study is performed. The stochastic modified Reynolds equation (developed by the author in his previous papers) applied to this type of bearings has become more developed to deal with the bearing static performance under the effect of the fluid film viscosity variation. The study showed the effect of the viscosity variation on the pressure, the load, the flow rate, the frictional torque, the friction factor, the power factor, the stiffness factor and the central pressure ratio as well as the effect of the speed parameter and the eccentricity on the temperature rise. The partial differential equation of the temperature gradient is derived from the fluid governing equations, integrated and applied to this type of bearings to calculate and predict the temperature distribution along the fluid film. The application of this temperature equation proved the excellence of the aforementioned optimum design of this bearing in our previous papers where the temperature of the outlet flow was less than 14 degrees centigrade over its inlet temperature.