Simulation of heat transfer in a turbocharger bearing housing

Abstract

Modern world trends in engine building are characterised by the production of forced engines. The most popular and promising forcing method is the use of a turbocharger. The efficiency of journal bearings determines the reliability of TCR, which should be structurally simple, compact, reliable and inexpensive, while providing acceptable characteristics of rotor dynamics, noise, vibration and stiffness speeds. The best performance of the bearing unit is achieved with hydrodynamic lubrication, which depends on optimal operating and temperature conditions. The maximum operating temperature of the bearing assembly must be taken into account at the design stage. The purpose of this article is to develop an algorithm for calculating the heat transfer in the turbocharger bearing housing in order to assess the effect of the thermal state of the radial bearing on its performance and on the dynamics of the rotor. The simulation was carried out in the ANSYS software package and the developed software. The boundary conditions for the calculation were obtained from experimental data. The result of the simulation was the determination of temperatures and thermal fields in the turbocharger housing, as well as the values of the change in clearances under the influence of thermal expansion of parts. Verification of the results was carried out on the basis of comparison with the results obtained by other authors. Conclusions were drawn about the effect of thermal deformations on the rotor dynamics and the hydromechanical characteristics of the bearing.