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A mixed lubrication analysis of a flat‐land thrust bearing with a surface optimisation method
Author(s) -
Zhang Xiaohan,
Jackson Robert L.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
lubrication science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.632
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1557-6833
pISSN - 0954-0075
DOI - 10.1002/ls.1556
Subject(s) - thrust bearing , lubrication , surface roughness , materials science , fluid bearing , thrust , surface finish , bearing (navigation) , deformation (meteorology) , mechanical engineering , composite material , engineering , computer science , artificial intelligence
Thrust bearings are widely used in many rotary industrial applications. In this work, a thrust bearing surface under the mixed lubrication regime is analysed and then optimised with aim for use in an injection moulded polymer bearing. A model which couples the mechanical deformation, boundary lubrication and solid contact is developed to investigate the behaviour of the thrust bearing under the load balance condition. This model provides the predictions of important quantities such as load carrying capacity from fluid and solid contact, minimum film thickness and contact pressure. More important, the large‐scale surface geometry is optimised using a quadratic geometry and this large‐scale surface is superimposed with the small‐scale roughness from measured surface to form an optimised surface. This large‐scale geometry might be controlled in the injection moulding process of polymer thrust bearings, whereas it is more difficult to control the roughness. The fluid load carrying capacity for the optimised surface has more than doubled compared to the fluid load carrying capacity for the measured surface.