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SUMMARY
A finite element model is presented for mixed lubrication of journal-bearing systems operating in
adverse conditions. The asperity effects on contact and lubrication at large eccentricity ratios are
modelled. The elastic deformation due to both hydrodynamic and contact pressure, and the cavitation
of the lubricant film are considered in the model system. Two verification problems with both
theoretical and experimental comparisons are given to show the effectiveness of this model. Finally,
a new example is presented which discusses the influence of waviness depth, secondary roughness,
external force and shaft speed on the mixed lubrication. Copyright 䉷 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KEY WORDS: mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication; journal-bearing system; finite element method
0. INTRODUCTION
Mixed lubrication consists of a partial lubrication region where both hydrodynamic lubrication
and boundary lubrication coexist. Intermittent material contacts may appear when the oil film
∗ Correspondence to: W. K. Liu, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan
Road, Evanston, IL 60208, U.S.A.
† E-mail: w-liu@northwestern.edu
‡ Walter P. Murphy Professor
§ Senior Research Associate
¶ Formerly Research Assistant, Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University. Currently Senior Scientist,
Livermore Software Technology Corp., 7374 Las Positas Road, Livermore, CA94550, U.S.A.
Associate Professor
∗∗ Post Doctoral Fellow
†† Senior Technical Analyst
‡‡ Chief Technical Analyst
breakdowns, which can induce surface damages such as massive wear and scuffing. Therefore,
a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental phenomena of mixed lubrication is very
important for journal bearing design.
Since Peppler [1] firstly tried to study the lubricated contact between gear teeth in 1936,
a lot of valuable work has been done in numerical computations of hydrodynamic pressures
and journal-bearing elastic deformations [2, 3]. It seems that the finite element method (FEM)
[4] and the FEM-based influence-function method [5] have been the most popular techniques
for calculating the journal-bearing elastic deformation under hydrodynamic pressures, while the
finite difference method (FDM) [6] and FEM [7] have been widely applied to obtain hydro-
dynamic pressures. Since the 1970s, several typical modellings considering surface roughness
effect for mixed lubrication problems have been developed, such as the longitudinal-roughness
flow model by Christensen [8], the average Reynolds equation by Patir and Cheng [9], and
the asperity contact model by Greenwood and Tripp [10]. Zhu et al. [11] studied the mixed
lubrication problem of a piston-cylinder contact, focusing on the convex piston. Wang et al.
[12] analysed the journal-bearing conformal contacts under steady-state conditions, considering
the combined effects of bearing deformation, surface roughness and asperity interaction. With
the increasing computational power of the modern computer, the deterministic approaches have
been proposed using artificial surfaces to simulate surface irregularities since 1980s [13]. How-
ever, these deterministic models require large computational time and sophisticated numerical
skills to obtain a converged solution [14].
Today, many thermodynamic (THD) models are available, which successfully study the
thermal effects on journal bearing lubrication [15, 16]. These models are based on ideally
smooth bearing surfaces operating with relatively low eccentricity ratios. Recently Shi and
Wang [17] developed a steady-state mixed thermo-elasto-hydrodynamic (TEHD) model for
journal-bearing conformal contacts working at large eccentricity ratios, in which FDM was
used to solve the hydrodynamic pressures.
For dynamically loaded bearings, several efficient approaches have been utilized thus far,
including the short-bearing theory [18], the mobility method [19] and the semianalytical method
[20]. Two review papers by Campbell et al. [21] and Martin [22] presented comparisons of
various analytical methods and some experimental results. Mainly since the 1980s, a more
robust approach, finite element method has found applications in journal-bearing modelling
[4, 23–26]. This paper presents a mixed lubrication study of finite journal bearings operating
under steady and dynamic loads conditions with large eccentricity ratios. The average Reynolds
equation derived by Patir and Cheng [9] is used to consider the effects of roughness on lubricant
flow, and an FEM model for solving complicated mixed lubrication problems is developed.
Copyright 䉷 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2004; 60:1759–1790
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1761
of the journal. The bearing housing is of a finite length. In the absence of the eccentricity,
the initial radial clearance between the journal and bearing housing is denoted by c, then
R2 − R1 = c. Note that c>R1 , R2 , and R1 ≈ R2 ≈ R. Two co-ordinate systems are used for
the journal-bearing model. O − XY Z is a global co-ordinate system while xz is the co-ordinate
system for the lubricant film (x = R).
For the flow of a thin lubricant film in journal bearings, the surface roughness may have
remarkable effects. The bored bearings, for example, may have a surface that can be idealized
with the texture shown in Figure 2, in which AA is a section cut along the axis of the journal.
The asperity of the surface is dominated by longitudinal wavenesses along the sliding direction
(x-direction), which is periodic in the z-direction. Finer secondary roughness may exist on the
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1762 W. K. LIU ET AL.
Figure 3. Thickness of the lubricant film: (a) cross-section; and (b) enlargement of the circled area.
surface of the waviness. In Figure 2, the periodic length of the waviness is designated by
L = L1 + L2 + L3 , where L1 is the width of the plateau, L2 and L3 are the widths of the
valley slopes, and D is the depth of the valley. The composite surface roughness of the journal
and housing surfaces, , is defined as a root mean square of the standard deviations of the
two secondary roughness amplitudes
= 21 + 22 (1)
where 1 and 2 are the standard deviations of the secondary roughness of the two sliding
surfaces.
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1763
L2 + L3 D D
= hm + = hm + (7)
L1 + L2 + L3 2 2
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1764 W. K. LIU ET AL.
Figure 4. Load equilibrium for a journal: (a) load balance; and (b) summation of pressure.
3. Contact loads. When there exists asperity to asperity contact between the journal and
housing, there are contact loads distributed on the contacted area. These loads can result
in a normal force, wa , and a friction, a . The resulting contact normal pressure is against
the eccentricity of the journal but the direction of the friction depends on the relative
sliding between the journal and housing. Since the housing is usually fixed, the load
directions are shown as in Figure 4(a) for a journal rotating clockwise. The projected
forces in the X-direction are wa sin( − ) and a cos( − ) while the projected forces
in Y -direction are wa cos( − ) and −a sin( − ).
By summing up the projected forces in the X- and Y -directions of the above loads, we can
write the load balance equations for the journal as
fX = − p̄(x, z, t) sin d − wa (t) sin − a (t) cos + FX (t) = 0, and (9)
fY = − p̄(x, z, t) cos d − wa (t) cos + a (t) sin + FY (t) = 0 (10)
where d = R d dz = dx dz and is the surface of the journal bearing. In the above equations,
the angle , which indicates the orientation of the eccentricity OO , is also a function of time
t. In the calculation of the resultant force of the pressure distribution, we have shifted the origin
of axis of the journal from O to O. Because the eccentricity is within the range of the radial
clearance, it is small when compared with the radius of the journal surface. Therefore, the error
due to this approximation is negligible. The pressure distribution is governed by an average
Reynolds equation, which will be described in detail in the next section. The calculation of
the contact loads is given in Section 1.5.
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1765
where p̄(x, z, t) is the mean pressure within the lubricant, h̄(x, z, t) the mean lubricant film
thickness, density of the lubricant, viscosity of the lubricant, r.m.s. of secondary roughness,
u1 velocity of the journal and positive for clockwise motion, u2 velocity of the bearing housing
and positive for clockwise motion, and p (h̄) pressure flow factor matrix and s (h̄) shear flow
factor matrix.
The flow factors reflect the effects of surface roughness and are therefore dependent on
the roughness of the sliding surfaces. In Equation (13), the two terms on the left-hand side
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1766 W. K. LIU ET AL.
represent the pressure-driven flows, the first term on the right-hand side is due to the fluid
entraining and the second term indicates the effect of the surface roughness on shear and the
third term accounts for the normal motion (squeezing) of the two sliding surfaces.
The flow factor matrices can be obtained by comparing the stochastic Reynolds equation
with the average Reynolds equation. For the surface texture of the bearings shown in Figure
2, the flow factors given by Ai and Cheng [26] are (also see Appendix A):
2 2 3
p 3 D 1 2 D
x = 1 + 3 + (1 − ) + ( − 1) (14)
h̄ 4 h̄ 4 h̄
D 2
1−
p 2h̄
z = , and (15)
D
2 + (1 − )
1− h̄
+
D 2 D
1− 1+ 1−
2h̄ 2 h̄
s = 0 (16)
The above flow factors depend on the surface roughness parameters, which, in our case, are
D and for the primary roughness (waviness) and for the secondary roughness. However,
the effects of the surface roughness vary with the film thickness because the amplitudes of the
surface roughness enter the above equations as ratios to the mean film thickness. When >h̄
p p
and D>h̄, x → 1 and z → 1, the flow of the lubricant is like that between two smooth
surfaces. On the other hand, when the lubricant film is thin, the surface roughness influences
the flow substantially. A matrix H (h̄) can be defined as
3
p h̄
x 12 0
H (h̄) = , and (17)
p h̄
3
0 z
12
u1 + u2
u= (18)
2
and g(x, z) is a scalar function and v(x, z) is a vector function with
*g
*x *vx *vz
∇g = , and ∇ · v = + (19)
*g
*x *z
*z
then the average Reynolds equation (Equation (13)) can be rewritten as
*h̄ ˙
∇ · (H · ∇ p̄) = u + h̄ (20)
*x
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1767
Figure 6. Asperity contact between the journal and the housing: (a) cross-section;
and (b) enlargement in axial directions.
ov = e − e0 , and (22)
D
e0 = c − +d (23)
2
In Figure 6(b), e0 indicates the difference between the real radii of the two contacted surfaces
and therefore, it includes the effects of the surface waviness and the deformation of the housing.
E,
are, respectively, the equivalent Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio defined by
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
= + , and = + (24)
E 2 E1 E2
2
1
2
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1768 W. K. LIU ET AL.
where E1 ,
1 , E2 , and
2 are the material property parameters for the journal and housing
respectively, d is the housing distortion at the center of the contact due to the combustion
and/or inertial forces, and pw the contact normal load per unit axial length. In Figure 6, the
solid lines indicate the current positions of the journal and housing while the dashed lines
represent the initial positions.
Assuming that the pressure is uniformly distributed along the axial direction in each individual
asperity ridge, the total contact pressure, wa , results from the contributions of all the contacted
asperity ridges in the axial direction according to
N
wa = L (1 − ∗ )pw
i
(25)
i=1
where L is the periodic length of the asperity waviness in the bearing, and ∗ a coefficient
affected by the deformation of the asperity, which is given by
∗ ov
1− =1−+ (26)
D
a = fa wa (27)
where O(p) represents the average Reynolds equation (Equation (20)). Once the pressures
are calculated, the extent of the cavitated region is checked. If all the nodes satisfy the
complementarity conditions, the designations of the cavitated and non-cavitated regions are
satisfactory and the computation is advanced to the next increment.
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1769
where a superposed dot means the derivative with respect to time t. The housing distortion, d,
depends on the pressure distribution in the lubricant. Substituting the above relationships into
the average Reynolds equation eliminates variable h̄. Therefore, the final governing equations
for the bearing problem can be stated as
p̄ sin d + wa (p̄, eX , eY )(sin + fa cos ) − FX (t) = 0 (32)
p̄ cos d + wa (p̄, eX , eY )(cos + fa sin ) − FY (t) = 0, and (33)
cos sin *d(p̄) ˙ p̄)
∇ · (H · ∇ p̄) = u − eX + eY + − ėX sin − ėY cos + d( (34)
R R *x
In the above equations, is determined by the eccentricity of the journal (tan = eX /eY ).
The boundary conditions for the journal-bearing problem consist of two parts. One is for the
prescribed lubricant pressure. For example, the bearing may have an oil supply groove and the
magnitude of the supply pressure is negligible, thus the lubricant pressure at the groove should
be zero. Another boundary condition occurs when there is film cavitation in the lubricated area.
At the interface between the lubricated area and the cavitated region, the fluid pressure must be
the cavitation pressure, which may be zero. This condition makes the solution to the problem
more difficult because it changes with time and is highly non-linear.
The strong form for the journal bearing simulation can be found by solving for the pressure
field in lubricant, p̄(x, z, t), and the eccentricity of the journal, eX (t) and eY (t), such that they
satisfy Equations (32)–(34), and by applying the following conditions in addition to appropriate
initial conditions:
p̄ = p∗ , on = p , and (35)
p̄ = 0, on = f (t) (36)
where p∗ is the prescribed pressure on boundary p , and f indicates the free interface between
the cavitated region and the lubricated region.
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1770 W. K. LIU ET AL.
*d ˙
0 = ∇ p · H · ∇ p̄ d + pu d + pd d − p cos deX
*x
− p sin dėX + p sin deY − p cos dėY (38)
where = u/R.
Thus, the weak form of the journal bearing simulation can be stated as: Solve for p̄, eX and
eY , such that for any variation, p, Equations (32), (33) and (38), and the boundary conditions
are satisfied.
2.3.1. Deformation of the bearing housing. If the thermal effect and the asperity contact load are
not considered for the distortion of the bearing housing, only the lubricant pressure contributes
to the deformation of the housing. The lubricant pressure and its variation can be interpolated
as follows
p̄ = NP, p = N P (39)
where N are the shape functions, and P and P are nodal pressure parameters and variations,
respectively. We use continuous finite elements to discretize the whole structure of the bearing
housing, which leads to the following set of linear algebraic equations
Kh d = fhext (40)
where d represents displacements at all the nodes in the housing model and Kh is the stiffness
matrix. The external nodal forces, fhext , can be calculated from the pressure applied by the
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1771
where Nh are the shape functions on the inner surface of the housing. The housing distortion
on the inner surface is then determined by
The deformation matrix, E(x), and its derivative with respect to x, Ex , are given by
*Nh (x) −1
Ex (x) = Kh Fh (44)
*x
2.3.2. Discretization of the average Reynolds equation. Since the lubricant is a thin film,
we use two-dimensional elements with neq nodes to discretize the fluid domain. Substituting
Equations (39) and (42) into the weak form of the average Reynolds equation (Equation (38)),
we have
R= ∇Nt H∇N d + Nt uEx d P + Nt E dṖ
− Nt cos deX − Nt sin dėX (45)
+ Nt sin deY − Nt cos dėY = 0
2.3.3. Discretization of load equations. The discretization of the two load equations for the
journal-bearing (Equations (32) and (33)), leads to
Rneq +1 = N sin dP + WX − FX (t) = 0, and (46)
Rneq +2 = N cos dP + WY − FY (t) = 0 (47)
where
Note that wa is a function of eccentricity and lubricant pressure (given by Equation (25)).
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1772 W. K. LIU ET AL.
2.3.4. Linearized equations. The above discretized equations, Equations (45)–(49), are the
finite element equations for the unknowns, P, eX and eY . Since they are highly non-linear, full
implicit integration must be used to solve these equations. Therefore, we have to derive the
linearized system of equations.
For the discretized average Reynolds equation (Equation (45)), we have
*R 1 *H
= ∇Nt H∇N d + Nt uEx d + Nt E d + ∇Nt ∇N dP (50)
*P t *P
*R 1 *H
= − Nt cos d − Nt sin d + ∇Nt ∇N dP, and (51)
*eX t *eX
*R 1 *H
= Nt sin d − Nt cos d + ∇Nt ∇N dP (52)
*eY t *eY
where
*Ṗ *ėX *ėY 1
= = = (53)
*P *eX *eY t
Since
p h̄3
x (h̄) 0
12 H11 0
H (h̄) = = (54)
p h̄
3
0 H22
0 z (h̄)
12
and recalling the film thickness relationship, (Equation (5)), we can write
For the discretized load equations (Equations (46) and (47)), we have
*Rneq +1 *WX
= N sin d + (59)
*P *P
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1773
*e * cos
= sin , =
*eX *eX e
(63)
*e * sin
= cos , and =−
*eY *eY e
then from Equations (48) and (49), which define WX and WY , we obtain
WX *wa
= (sin + fa cos ) (64)
*P *P
*WX *wa wa
= sin (sin + fa cos ) + cos (cos − fa sin ) (65)
*eX *e e
*WX *wa wa
= cos (sin + fa cos ) − sin (cos − fa sin ) (66)
*eY *e e
WY *wa
= (cos − fa sin ) (67)
*P *P
*WY *wa wa
= sin (cos − fa sin ) − cos (sin + fa cos ), and (68)
*eX *e e
*WY *wa wa
= cos (cos − fa sin ) + sin (sin + fa s cos ) (69)
*eY *e e
N −E − 2pw i /e N
(1 − ∗ )
0
=L E − EL pw i
, and (70)
Ee 0 D
i=1
2 ln i
−
− 1 i=1
2pw
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1774 W. K. LIU ET AL.
N E N
=L (1 − ∗ ) + L pw i
(71)
Ee 0 D
i=1
2 ln i
−
−1 i=1
2pw
where
MIJ = NI EJ d (75)
neq +1
MI =− NI sin d (76)
neq +2
MI =− NI cos d (77)
KIJ = (∇N )Ii Hij (∇N)jJ d + uNI (Ex )J d (78)
neq +1
KI =− NI cos d (79)
neq +2
KI = NI sin d (80)
KJneq +1 = NJ sin d, and (81)
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1775
KJneq +2 = NJ cos d (82)
and WX , WY can be considered as a functional giving the contact loads from the eccentricity
and the deformation of the housing. In the above expressions, I and J are in the range between
1 and neq . We can see that matrices M and K are non-symmetric.
Because the problem is highly non-linear, full implicit integration should be used according
to
1 1
R = K + M Dn+1 − MDn − F(tn+1 ) = 0 (83)
t t
For the Newton-Raphson iterative scheme, we have
(v)
*R
D(v+1) = −R(v) , and (84)
*D
(v+1) (v)
Dn+1 = Dn+1 + D(v+1) = Dn + Dn+1 (85)
where
(v)
Dn+1 = Dn+1 (86)
v
where
1 *Hij
K̄IJ = KIJ + MIJ + (∇N)Ii (∇N)jK EJ dPK (88)
t *h̄
neq +1 n +1 1 neq +1 *Hij
K̄I = KI eq + M − (∇N)Ii (∇N)jK sin dPK (89)
t I *h̄
neq +2 n +2 1 neq +2 *Hij
K̄I = KI eq + M − (∇N)Ii (∇N)jK cos dPK (90)
t I *h̄
J *WX
K̄neq +1 = KJneq +1 + (91)
*PJ
J *WY
K̄neq +2 = KJneq +1 + (92)
*PJ
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1776 W. K. LIU ET AL.
neq +1 *WX
K̄neq +1 = (93)
*eX
neq +2 *WX
K̄neq +1 = (94)
*eY
neq +1 *WY
K̄neq +2 = , and (95)
*eX
neq +2 *WY
K̄neq +2 = (96)
*eY
3. NUMERICAL EXAMPLES
In order to test the performance of the finite element model, we present the following three
numerical examples:
(1) Without asperity contact and the roughness effect, we compare the results with those
of by Wang et al. [12] where combined FDM and FEM were used for a finite journal
bearing under constant loads with large eccentricity.
(2) Without asperity contact and the roughness effect, we compare the numerical results with
the experimental ones by Patrick [32] under dynamic loads.
(3) Considering asperity contact and the roughness effect, a continuous-sleeve journal-bearing
problem is solved. The influence of waviness depth, secondary roughness, and external
force and shaft speed on the mixed lubrication are discussed.
hT / = h/ + e−(0.599+0.9936(h/)
2 +0.22(h/)3 +0.04545(h/)4 )
and the Sommerfeld number is S = uLR 2 /(P c2 ). Moreover, the simulations show that for
rigid cases, the convergence is easily obtained when the eccentricity ratio c/e is less than 0.99,
but the solution finally fails to converge as c/e tends towards 1.
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1777
Figure 7. A comparison of the total bearing load (L/D = 2/3, 500 rpm, = 0.5 m): (a) the journal
bearing structure. Bearing ID = 24.4 mm, bearing OD = 28.4 mm, total height = 30.5 mm, radial
clearance = 0.0254 mm; (b) as a function of the eccentricity ratio; and (c) as a function of the
dimensionless minimum film thickness, m = (hT /)m .
the alternating load is sinusoidal with a maximum load of 4.33 tonf (or 42434 N), both the
journal speed and load frequency are 320 rpm. Two diametrically opposed axial grooves, 1/4 in
(or 6.35 mm) broad, were cut in the bearings. The grooves were set in a plane normal to the
load plane and were supplied with oil from a 1/4-in (or 6.35 mm) diameter hole situated at
the mid-point of each groove, and an SAE 40 mineral oil was used [32]. In this paper, both
the journal and the bearing are assumed ideally smooth and rigid, and we take the oil viscosity
as 10−5 reyns (or 0.068948 PaS).
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1778 W. K. LIU ET AL.
Figure 8. Numerical predictions of the minimum film thickness and the oil film pressure: (a) history
of hmin ; and (b) a comparison of the pressure distribution at different load phase angles.
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1779
The predicted minimum film thickness vs crank angle, illustrated Figure 8(a), shows that
the steady solution is obtained after only two cycles of loading. Figure 8(b) shows that the
generation of load-bearing pressures in the oil film is well known as a predominantly squeeze
film action, with the maximum oil film pressures occurring at the instant of the maximum of
the applied load. The numerical results present a similar trend.
3.3. Bearing performance under dynamic loads and major factors to be considered
The continuous-sleeve journal-bearing problem, shown in Figure 9, is solved next. For simplicity,
the housing is assumed as a cylindrical tube of a finite length operating under a horizontal
periodic external force F̄ext (1 − cos ext ). The main parameters are listed in Table I. Again, only
a half journal-bearing system is modelled because of symmetry. For the lubricant film, 30 × 4
eight-node 2D quadratic elements are used, while 30 × 4 × 2 eight-node 3D brick elements
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1780 W. K. LIU ET AL.
Figure 10. The relationship between the minimum film thickness and the crank angle: (a) the influence
of at us = 2000 rpm, Dwav = 5 m, Fext = 10 kN; (b) the influence of us at = 0.0015 mm,
Dwav = 5 m, Fext = 10 kN; (c) the influence of Fext at us = 2000 rpm, Dwav = 5 m, = 0.0005 mm;
and (d) the influence of Dwav at us = 2000 rpm, = 0.001 mm, Fext = 10 kN.
are used to model the deformation of the housing. All displacements components in x and y
directions at the nodes on the external cylindrical surface are prescribed to be zero.
The minimum film thickness, hm , takes an instant minimum value h̄m as the external force
Fext almost reaches a peak value F̄ext , and yields a maximum, h̄M , when Fext is around
(1/4 ∼ 2/5)F̄ext at the increasing stage of the loading curve, as plotted as in Figure 10. It
shows a smaller value with the increment of F̄ext and a reduction of the waviness depth Dwav .
The minimum film thickness is slight smaller if the secondary roughness, , is larger in the
range between the (i − 1)th h̄m and the ith h̄M . Moreover, the value of h̄m increases while
h̄M decreases as the angular speed of shaft us is increased.
The orbit of the shaft center is illustrated in Figure 11. As the system solution becomes
stable, the orbit forms a single connecting domain for a smaller F̄ext (10 and 20 kN), but
becomes a double connecting one for a larger F̄ext (30 and 40 kN). The single connecting
domain spreads slightly with the increase of , and its shape becomes more round when us
and Dwav are increased.
Figure 12 shows the maximum film pressure pm , which presents a similar shape as the
external loading curve but with a slight delay. Also, pm increases with F̄ext rapidly and the
influence of can be negligible. It can also be found that a larger minimum value of pm is
related to the higher us and larger Dwav .
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1781
Figure 11. The orbits of journal centre: (a) the influence of at us = 2000 rpm, Dwav = 5 m,
Fext = 10 kN; (b) the influence of us at = 0.0015 mm, Dwav = 5 m, Fext = 10 kN; (c) the
influence of Fext at us = 2000 rpm, Dwav = 5 m, = 0.0005 mm; and (d) the influence of Dwav at
us = 2000 rpm, = 0.001 mm, Fext = 10 kN.
Figure 12. The relationship between the maximum film pressure and the crank angle: (a) the influence
of at us = 2000 rpm, Dwav = 5 m, Fext = 10 kN; (b) the influence of us at = 0.0015 mm,
Dwav = 5m, Fext = 10 kN; (c) the influence of Fext at us = 2000 rpm, Dwav = 5m, = 0.0005mm;
and (d) the influence of Dwav at us = 2000 rpm, = 0.001 mm, Fext = 10 kN.
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1782 W. K. LIU ET AL.
Figure 13. The relationship between the total contact pressure and the crank angle: (a) the influence
of at us = 2000 rpm, Dwav = 5 m, Fext = 10 kN; (b) the influence of us at = 0.0015 mm,
Dwav = 5 m, Fext = 10 kN; (c) the influence of Fext at us = 2000 rpm, Dwav = 5 m, = 0.0005 mm;
and (d) the influence of Dwav at us = 2000 rpm, = 0.001 mm, Fext = 10 kN.
The total contact pressure (the sum of all asperity contact load), wa , increases with F̄ext ,
and Dwav while decreases with us , as shown in Figure 13. It should be mentioned that wa is
zero when Dwav is very small (e.g. 0.882 m), and double peaks can be also seen for a lower
us and larger Dwav .
Because the problem is highly non-linear, the time integration of the solution converges
slowly when the fully Newton–Raphson method is used and the time increments are small,
especially for the cases with heavier load, higher waviness depth, smaller viscosity of lubricant
and lower shaft velocity. The simulations show that the modified Newton–Raphson method
works better than the full Newton–Raphson method, and the convergent solutions can be
obtained generally after 2 or 3 cycles of load (as shown in Figures 10–13). However, it is also
found that when Dwav is larger, for example, above 6 m, convergence becomes very difficult.
Therefore, new methods for faster convergence need be developed to improve the efficiency of
the finite element analysis.
4. CONCLUSIONS
A finite element model for mixed lubrication of journal-bearing systems working under
adverse conditions is developed. With large eccentricity ratios, the asperity effects on con-
tact and lubrication are considered. The elastic deformations due to both hydrodynamic and
contact pressure, as well as the cavitation of the lubricant film, are included in the model.
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1783
Without considering roughness effects, good agreement is obtained with the experimental re-
sults by Patrick [32] and previous work by Wang et al. [12]. Finally, the influence of waviness
depth, secondary roughness, and external force and shaft speed on the mixed lubrication were
discussed. It is found that for journal bearings under dynamic loads, the convergent solutions
can be obtained generally after only 2 or 3 cycles of loading using the modified Newton–
Raphson method. However, the convergence becomes difficult when the waviness depth Dwav
is larger than 6 m.
In engineering analysis and design, major concerns are placed on the effectiveness and
efficiency of the specific methodology. The finite element modelling of a journal bearing may
involve a large amount of computation because of the high non-linearity of the problem and the
large number of finite element nodes needed to obtain more accurate solutions. Further research
is needed to improve the computational efficiency and robustness. Meshfree methods [34, 35]
and multiscale methods [36, 37] may be good approaches to use for the in-depth evaluation of
roughness effects.
The flow factors in the average Reynolds equation reflect the influence of the surface roughness
on the lubricant flow. These factors can be thought of as correction factors, comparing the mean
flow between rough surfaces to that between smooth surfaces with the same nominal geometries
[28].
p p
According to Patir and Cheng’s average flow theory [9, 38], the flow factors, x , z and
, can be obtained by comparing the average Reynolds equation with the stochastic Reynolds
s
equation. For our journal-bearing model, the average Reynolds equation can be written as
* p h̄
3*p̄ * p h̄ *p̄
3 u1 + u2 *(h̄) u1 − u2 *s *(h̄)
x + z = + +
*x 12 *x *z 12 *z 2 *x 2 *x *t
(A1)
In the case of pure longitudinal roughness (see Figure 2), the flow factors are found to be [26]
p E[h3T ]
x = (A2)
h̄3
p 1
z = (A3)
h̄3 E[1/ h3T ]
s = 0 (A4)
where hT is the true film thickness and h̄ is the average film thickness. The operator, E[·],
denotes the average over a smaller area when compared to the lubricant region and includes
a large number of asperities. In our case, this area should contain at least one longitudinal
waviness.
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1784 W. K. LIU ET AL.
p
A.1. Circumferential pressure flow factor x
Let represent the amplitude of the secondary roughness, D the amplitude of the primary
roughness (depth of the waviness) and h̄T the film thickness measured from the mean lever of
the surface of the wavinesses (see Figure 2), we have
Then
E[h3T ] = E[h̄3T ] + 3E[h̄2T ] + 3E[h̄T 2 ] + E[3 ] (A7)
Because the characteristic length of the secondary roughness is far less than that of the primary
roughness, we have
E[h̄2T ] = E[h̄2T ]E[ ] and E[h̄T 2 ] = E[h̄T ]E[2 ] (A8)
Note that
E[ ] = E 3
= 0, E[2 ] = 2 , and E[h̄T ] = h̄ (A9)
Then we get
E[h3T ] = E[h̄3T ] + 32 h̄ (A10)
As the overall surface topography is assumed to be periodic, E[h̄3T ] can be calculated over a
periodic length as
L L2 3 L3 3
1 1 L1 D D
E[h̄3T ] = h̄3 dz = h3m dz + hm + z dz + hm + z dz
L 0 T L 0 L1 L2 L2 L3
L2 + L3 3 2 1
= h3m + hm D + hm D 2 + D 3 (A11)
L1 + L2 + L3 2 4
Since
L2 + L3 D D
h̄ = E[hT ] = E[h̄T ] = hm + = hm + (A12)
L1 + L2 + L3 2 2
then E[h̄3T ] (Equation (A11)) can be rewritten as
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1785
and the first derivative with respect to the mean film thickness is
p
2 3
*x 1 2 3 D 3 2 D
=− 6 + 2 1 − + ( − 1) (A15)
*h̄ h̄ h̄ 4 h̄ 4 h̄
p
A.2. Axial pressure flow factor z
Because the flow of the lubricant is dominated by the flow in the x direction, the secondary
p
roughness can be neglected for the flow factor z as a first-order approximation, i.e.,
1 1
E 3
≈E (A16)
hT h̄3T
1 − 2hm + D
= + (A17)
h3m 2 h2m (hm + D)2
Since
hm D
hm = h̄ − D/2, and =1− (A18)
h̄ 2 h̄
then
D
2 1− +D
1 1− 2h̄
h̄3 E = 3 + 2 2 = (A19)
h̄3T D D D D D 2
1− 2 1− 1− + 1−
2h̄ 2h̄ 2h̄ h̄ 2h̄
where
2 + (1 − ) h̄
D
1−
= D
+
2
1− 2h̄
2
1 + 1 − 2 D
h̄
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1786 W. K. LIU ET AL.
p
The flow factor z is derived as [26]
p 1 1 D 2
z = = 1− (A20)
1 2h̄
3
h̄ E 3
h̄T
and the first derivative with respect to the mean film thickness is
D D
− 3 − (1 − ) 1 − 1−
D
p
*z D 1 (1 − ) 2 h̄ 2h̄
= 2 1− + −
*h̄ h̄ 2h̄ 2 D
D 3
2 1 − 2
2 1 + 1 −
2h̄ 2 h̄
(A21)
As mentioned before, the solid contact between the journal and housing is usually minimal,
and the contact area is small compared to the circumferential dimension of the journal surface.
Thus, the contact between the journal and housing can be approximated by the solution of the
half-space contact.
The deformation of a half-space relative to a point A which is at a depth l below the center
of the Hertzian contact pressure distribution (see Figure B1) is given by Johnson [39] as
p 2l
= 2 ln −
¯ (B1)
Ē a
where is the displacement at the center of the Hertzian contact pressure, a the half contact
width, and p the contact load per unit length (along the direction perpendicular to the paper).
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1787
Figure B2. Deformation of the journal and the housing due to contact.
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1788 W. K. LIU ET AL.
Hence
2p E(R2 − R1 )
ov = ln −
(B10)
E 2p
Considering the distortion of the housing (see Figure 6), we have
D
e0 = R2 − R1 = c + d − , and (B11)
2
ov = R1 − R2 + e = e − e0 (B12)
where B is the length of the bearing housing. Assuming that the contact pressure is uniformly
distributed in the axial direction on each ridge of the waviness, we have
N
wa = L(1 − ) pn (B15)
n=1
where L is the periodic length of the waviness. Because the deformation of the housing due
to the contact is very small, the compression of the asperity ridge is almost equal to the total
overlap (see Figure B3). Because of the compression of the asperity ridge, the width of the
plateau increases from L1 to L∗ by
ov ov ov
L∗1 − L1 ≈ L2 + L3 = (L − L1 ) (B16)
D D D
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FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MIXED ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION 1789
L∗1 ov
where ∗ = 1 − =− .
L D
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge NSF, NSF-IGERT, Federal Mogul Corporation, and CSET for
financial support, and also wish to thank Dr Chao Zhang, Tongji University in China, for his kind
help in testing a part of the computation programs.
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