THERMOHYDRODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF A

JOURNAL BEARING USING CFD AS A

TOOL

Presented By

Mukesh Kumar
ME 4th Semester
(Roll No.:5146409006)

Under Guidance of

Prof. Sanjeev Shrivastava
(Associate Professor)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Shri Shankaracharya Group of Institutions
Faculty of Engineering and Technology
J unwani, Bhilai (C.G.)

Objective of this thesis:
In this project work of Cuppilard et al
[7]
has been reproduced
with a three-dimensional journal bearing model and using
ANSYS Fluent 12.0 as a CFD analysis tool. Cupillard et al
considered a two-dimensional model journal bearing and they
did not consider effect of temperature on the property of fluid
in the fluid film during simulation and thus the effects of
property changes were not carried forward in performance
parameters of dimpled journal bearing.

Here in this present work a thermohydrodynamic simulation
has been done on a three-dimensional journal bearing, that is,
effect of temperature has been considered.

To incorporate temperature effect in the simulation an User
Defined Function (UDF) has been written and hooked up with
the Fluent software.
Introduction:
Bearing and its types
Tribology is the word derived from Greek word Tribos, means
rubbing process. Tribology mainly deals with technique of
lubrication and mechanism of friction and wear. The loss of input
energy in any mechanism is mainly due to friction and lubrication
is the most efficient way to reduce friction. From this point of
view the subject tribology has immense importance. Through
research and development in the field of tribology if mechanical
systems can be run more with higher efficiency then in turn it will
save huge money and can contribute significantly in the progress
of the human society. For this reason the subject tribology has
been the subject of extensive research for many a decades.

In a mechanical system bearing has an important role to play. A
bearing is a system of machine elements whose function is to
support an applied load by reducing friction between the
relatively moving surfaces. The load may be radial or axial or
combination of these. Bearings are classified according to the
direction of applied load. If the bearing supports radial loads, it is
called radial or journal bearing. On other hand, a thrust bearing
supports a thrust or axial load. Some bearing can support both
radial as well as axial load and they are known as conical
bearings.
In the clearance space of a bearing a substance called lubricant is
introduced. Any substance which has some amount of viscosity is
known as lubricant. The most common lubricants are oils and
greases.
Contd.
There are mainly two common types of bearing are used in
practice. They are rolling element and fluid film bearings. If
two mating surfaces during operated conditions are
completely separated by fluid film, such a type of
lubrication is called fluid film lubrication. Fluid film
bearings are lubricated by hydrodynamic flow which is
generated by relative surface motion and/or external
pressurization. A fluid film bearing operating on the
principle of hydrodynamic lubrication is called self-acting
bearing, in which the load is supported due to wedging
effect of the fluid caused by the relative tangential motion
between two surfaces.
Contd.
Hydrodynamic journal bearings are considered to be a vital
component of all rotating machinery. It is used to support radial
loads under high speed operating conditions. J ournal bearing may
be divided into full journal bearing, where the contact angle of
the bushing with the journal is 360, and partial journal bearing,
in which the contact angle is either 180 or less. Full (360)
journal bearings are widely used bearing in industrial machinery.
These bearings are widely used bearings in industrial machinery.
These bearings can take up rotating load. The partial journal
bearings have limited applications and are used when the
direction of radial loads does not change. Figure below shows the
full and partial journal bearings.
Contd.
Fig1: Full J ournal Bearing.
Contd.
Fig2: Partial J ournal Bearing.
Contd.
Besic Laws of Tribology
J ournal bearing is a hydrodynamic load bearing. In the journal
bearing, the lubricant in between the journal and bearing rotates
with the journal and supports the load. Due to the physical
configuration of journal bearing a wedge shaped fluid film is
created as shown in the figure below-

Contd.
Fig3: Fluid film development in a journal bearing.
Now this wedge shaped fluid film obeys the laws of-
Conservation of mass flow
Conservation of momentum in X, Y and Z directions
Conservation of energy
Besides these the lubricants physical property obeys the equation
of states.
Now if the fluid obeys the Newtonian laws of viscosity then we
have to modify the above conservation laws as shown below.

Mass flow conservation
Rate of increase of mass in the fluid element = Net rate of
flow of mass into fluid element.

Contd.
Equ.- 1
Conservation of momentum
Rate of increase of momentum in the fluid particle in
any particular direction = Sum of forces on the fluid
particle in that direction.

For X-Direction



For Y-Direction


For Z-Direction


Contd.
Equ. (2)
Conservation of energy
Rate of increase of energy of a fluid particle = Net rate
of heat added to the fluid particle + Net rate of work
done on the fluid particle







If Newtons laws of viscosity are imposed on the momentum
conservation equations then following equations are generated
which are called Navier-Stokes equations:
Contd.
Contd.
and if we combine viscous equations with energy
conservation equation, we get

Where,
Formation of FEA model of the problem:
A journal bearing of following dimensions and fluid properties
has been considered for the study. The dimensions and properties
of lubricant used as per the work of Cupillard et al (Reference
[7]).

Length of the bearing (L) 133mm
Radius of Shaft (R
s
) 50mm
Radial Clearance (C) 0.145mm
Eccentricity ratio() 0.61
Angular Velocity () 48.1 Rad/sec
Lubricant density () 840 Kg/m
3

Viscosity of the lubricant () 0.0127 Pas
Contd.
According to the above topological data other derived data would be
like
I. Radius of Bearing (Rb) : (Rs +C) =50.145mm
II. Attitude angle () : 68.4. (as per reference [7])
III. Eccentricity (e) : ( C) =(0.61 0.145) =0.08845mm.
Now details for cavitation model are as follows as per reference [7].

Lubricant vapour saturation pressure 20 Kpa.
Ambient pressure 101.325 Kpa.
Density of lubricant vapour 1.2 kg/m
3

Viscosity of lubricant vapour 210
-5
Pas.
Assumed vapour bubble dia 110
-5
m
Schematic diagram a smooth journal bearing:

Contd.
To proceed in this analysis, first a 3-dimensional bearing has been
generated in GAMBIT 2.3.16. Figures below show the 3d-
geometry and meshed geometry in GAMBIT.
Contd.
Next the 3-D model of the journal bearing has been meshed
using QUAD element. Figure below shows the meshed view of
the journal bearing.
Contd.
After generating meshed volume in GAMBIT next following
boundary conditions have been fixed.
Contd.
SL
NO.
BOUNDARY NAME BOUNDARY TYPE
1 Middle cross-sectional plane SYMETRY
2 End plane of the bearing PRESSURE OUTLET
3 J ournal surface WALL
4 Bearing surface WALL
After assigning boundary name and types of the flow region the
file has been exported as .msh and then has been imported to the
Fluent software for CFD simulation.
In Fluent, data regarding chemical and physical properties of
lubricant oil and properties of lubricant vapor, which have been
mentioned before, have been fed into the software. Here,
following mathematical parameters have been set in the software.

Contd.
Pressure-
Velocity
Coupling
Discretization Methods
Pressure Density Momentum Vapor
SIMPLE PRESTO
Second
order
Second
Order
First order
After simulation pressure distribution on journal surface has been
found out as contour representation. Figure below depicts the
stress distribution starting from the mid plane that is plane of
symmetry of the bearing.
Contd.
Figure below expresses the pressure distribution starting from a
cross-sectional plane at a distance of 10% of total bearing length
from the plane of symmetry.
Contd.
The above pressure distribution on J ournal surface of a J ournal
Bearing has been generated without considering the effect of
temperature. The above result is very much in compliance with
the work of S Cupillard, S Glavatskih, and M J Cervantes
presented in reference [7]. But in their work Cupillard et. al.
simulated a journal bearing with 2-Dimensional flow region. So,
their work does not say about the pressure distribution along the
length of bearing. In this work simulation has been done in 3-
Dimensional flow region representing the actual lubricant flow of
inside the bearing. So, the work presented in this thesis depicts
more accurate pressure distribution in all 3-Dimensions.
In next chapter it will be shown that value of maximum pressure
in pressure distribution on journal surface becomes less if we
consider temperature effects.
Contd.
To include the effect of temperature on the properties of the
bearing oil in ANSYS a very beautiful mechanism is there in
ANSYS software. This mechanism is known as UDF method.
Full form of UDF is User Defined Function. By this method
one can append a governing function which would control the
variation of any property of the fluid with respect to pressure or
temperature or both. Here in this project following relation has
been used to control the viscosity as a function of temperature
and pressure. This equation has been adapted from the reference
[1].

The above equation has been appended to the ANSYS Fluent
software through a C-Program with a udf header file. The
program has been shown below.
Contd.
#include "udf.h"
DEFINE_PROPERTY(cell_viscosity,c,t)
{
real mu_lam;
real temp = C_T(c,t);
real pr = C_P(c,t);
mu_lam = 0.0127*exp(0.000000213345*(pr-101345))*exp(0.029*(temp-293));
return mu_lam;
}
Contd.
In above program we have used two terms and which are the
pressure and temperature coefficient of viscosity and value of these
quantities are 21.3345x10-8 m2/kg and 0.029/K.
After appending this program to Fluent and analyzing it we get the
following pressure distribution.
Contd.
Result and discussion:
From the above result it is clear that temperature created from the
frictional force increases decreases the viscosity of the lubricant
and lesser viscosity decreases the maximum pressure of the
lubricant inside the bearing. For this reason it is recommended
that when any analysis of journal bearing is done to measure its
performance always thermohydrodynamic analysis should be
used. Because considering the thermal effect on lubricant
property actual value of performance parameters can only be
obtained.
Now when the thermal analysis is done on the journal bearing
temperature distribution has been obtained along the journal
surface. Figure below represents the temperature variation of oil
along the journal surface.
Contd.
Conclusion and future scope:
The investigation carried out in this project leads to a very
important conclusion. Thermohydrodynamic analysis of bearing
gives the actual prediction of different performance parameters
correctly. So whatever modification done on a bearing and then
CFD simulation is done, it is mandatory to consider thermal
effects on the chemical properties of the lubricant in the flow
region.

This reassessment of Cupillard et al [7] work shows that whatever
result regarding the pressure distribution Cupillard et al got in
their work did not depict actual value because they considered the
isothermal case which is not practical. The actual pressure
distribution considering adiabatic case has been shown in this
work which is very near to the practical scenario.

References:
1) W. F. Hughes, F. Osterle, Temperature Effects in Journal Bearing Lubrication,
Tribology Transactions, 1: 1, 210 212, First published on: 01 J anuary 1958
(iFirst).

2) T. P. Indulekha, M. L. J oy, K. Prabhakaran Nair, Fluid flow and thermal analysis of
a circular journal bearing, Wairme- und Stoffubertragung 29(1994) 367-371.

3) S. A. Gandjalikhan Nassab, M S Moayeri, Three-dimensional
thermohydrodynamic analysis of axially grooved journal bearings, Proc Instn
Mech Engrs Vol 216 Part J : J Engineering Tribology, December 2001, Page: 35-47.

4) Prakash Chandra Mishra, Thermal Analysis of Elliptic Bore Journal Bearing,
Tribology Transactions, 50: 137-143, 2007.

5) Wei Wang, Kun Liu, Minghua J iao, Thermal and non Newtonian analysis on mixed
liquid- solid lubrication, Tribology International 40 (2007) 1067-1074.

6) K.P. Gertzos, P.G. Nikolakopoulos, C.A. Papadopoulos, CFD analysis of journal
bearing hydrodynamic lubrication by Bingham lubricant, Tribology International 41
(2008) 1190 1204.
7) S Cupillard, S Glavatskih, and M J Cervantes, Computational fluid dynamics
analysis of a journal bearing with surface texturing, Proc. IMechE, Part J : J .
Engineering Tribology, 222(J 2), 2008, page 97-107.

8) E. Feyzullahoglu, Isothermal Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication of Elliptic
Contacts, J ournal of the Balkan Tribological Association, Vol. 15, No 3, 438446
(2009).

9) Samuel Cupillard, Sergei Glavatskih, Michel J .Cervantes, 3D
thermohydrodynamic analysis of a textured slider, Tribology International 42
(2009) 14871495.

10) Ravindra R. Navthar et al., Stability Analysis of Hydrodynamic J ournal Bearing
using Stiffness Coefficients, International J ournal of Engineering Science and
Technology Vol.2 (2), 2010, page 87-93.

11) Majumder B. C. Introduction to Tribology of Bearings, A. H. Wheeler & Co
publication.

12) Verseteeng H. K. & Malalasekera W. An Introduction to Computational Fluid
Dynamics, Longman Scientific & Technical publication.

Contd.
7) Niyogi P., Chakrabarty S. K., Laha M. K. Introduction to Computational Fluid
Dynamics, Pearson Education publication.

8) Sheshu P. Textbook of Finite Element Analysis, Prentice Hall of India publication.

9) Cengel A. Yunus, Fluid Mechanics, McGraw-Hill publication.

10) Help documentation of GAMBIT 2.3.16 Software.

11) Help documentation of Fluent 6.3.26 Software.

12) Help documentation of Matlab 7.0 Software.
Contd.
THANK YOU