No abstract

Purpose This study aims to purpose the suitable location of slip boundary condition and microscale surface textures to enhance the tribological performance of the hydrodynamic journal bearings. Design/methodology/approach Mass conserving Elrod cavitation algorithm with considering slip boundary condition has been used for predicting the static performance characteristics (load carrying capacity, coefficient of friction and volumetric inflow rate) of finite cylindrical shape textured journal bearings. Findings It has been observed that the full textured bearing with slip boundary condition in between 0°–180° circumferential region gives a significant reduction in the lubricant rupture zone. However, the introduction of textures up to the interface of slip and the no-slip region is increasing the load-carrying capacity and reduces the shear stress. This reduction in shear stress with combined slip and surface textures is effective in increasing the volumetric inflow rate of the lubricant. Practical implications The combined effect of slip boundary condition and surface texturing is increasing the scope of liquid lubricants in hydrodynamic journal bearings and further contributing toward the development of small-scale rotating machines. Originality/value The study related to the use of mass conserving Elrod cavitation algorithm for finding the optimum location of slip and surface texture zones has been found rare in the literature. Previous studies show that the mass conserving Elrod cavitation algorithm gives realistic results for textured bearings and its findings show good agreement with the experimental observations.

Numerous published studies on the non-wettable surfaces with surface texture and slip conditions have been reviewed comprehensively to evaluate the performance of hydrodynamic bearings from last two decades. The recent numerical and experimental studies have been explored to observe the individual and combined influence of surface texture and slip. A variety of texture shapes and optimized slip zone profiles have also been discussed in this article. It has been observed from the literature that a suitable combination of modified slip and the conventional no-slip zone is effective in improving dynamic and static performance of hydrodynamic bearings. Many experimental studies also revealed that micro-scale textures are significantly capable of improving the tribological performance. Moreover, slip boundary condition is more beneficial at low and medium eccentricity ratios.

This paper discusses the combined effect of Non-Newtonian rheology of lubricants and slip boundary condition on the static performance characteristics of finite hydrodynamic journal bearings. A modified JFO model with an adiabatic energy equation has been used for calculating the variation of performance parameters. It has been observed that shear-thinning lubricant with slip effect on partial circumferential region shows a significant percentage of improvement in load-carrying capacity and coefficient of friction. Further, For eccentricity ratio of less than 0.2, these lubricants give maximum tribological performance as compared to Newtonian lubricants under conventional boundary condition. Nomenclature TLubricant temperature RECEIVED

No abstract