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Purpose -The performance of finite circular journal bearing lubricated with micropolar fluids taking into account the elastic deformation of the bearing liner is presented. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach -The modified Reynolds equation is obtained using the micropolar lubrication theory. The solution of the modified Reynolds equation is determined using finite difference technique. The static characteristics in terms of load-carrying capacity, attitude angle, side leakage and friction coefficient for micropolar and Newtonian fluids are determined for various values of eccentricity ratio and different values of elastic coefficient. Findings -Compared with Newtonian fluids, the micropolar fluids produce an increase in the load-carrying capacity and a reduction in the attitude angle, the friction factor and side leakage for both the rigid and deformable bearings. Originality/value -It is concluded that the influence of elastic deformation on the bearing characteristics lubricated with micropolar fluids is significantly apparent compared with bearing lubricated with Newtonian fluids.

This paper presents a numerical study of the effect of turbulence and elastic deformation on the performance of a journal bearing operating with couple stress fluids, following Constantinescu's turbulent lubrication theory. The modified Reynolds equation is derived taking into consideration the effect of turbulence and couple stresses. The modified Reynolds equation is solved using finite difference method. The results in terms of the load-carrying capacity, the attitude angle, friction coefficient and the side leakage are reported for various values of the couple stress parameter, the elastic coefficient, and Reynolds number. According to the obtained results, the couple stress fluid improves the performance characteristics of the rigid and deformed journal bearing in laminar and turbulent regimes. The results also show that bearing deformation and the turbulent regime cannot be neglected in calculating the performance characteristics of journal bearings lubricated with a Newtonian and a couple stress fluid.

In this work, a numerical study of the effect of elastic deformation on the static characteristics of a circular journal bearing operating with non-Newtonian fluids obeying to the power law model is presented. The modified Reynolds equation has been derived taking into consideration the effect of non-Newtonian behavior of the fluids. To obtain the pressure distribution, the Reynolds equation has been solved using finite difference technique with appropriate iterative technique incorporating Reynolds boundary conditions. The static performance characteristics for finite-width journal bearing in terms of the load-carrying capacity, the attitude angle, friction coefficient, and the side leakage have been studied for various values of the non-Newtonian power law index n and the elastic coefficient. The results show that the increase of the power law index produces a higher load-carrying capacity, a higher side leakage, a lower attitude angle, and a lower friction coefficient. From this study, it can be concluded that the elastic deformation has an important influence on the static characteristics of the journal bearing lubricated with a non-Newtonian fluid, and this influence is more significant for the journal bearing operating at larger values of the eccentricity ratio.

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