• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 2023

Surface texturing is widely applied to friction surfaces of various machine elements. Most of the theoretical studies have focused on isothermal (ISO) analyses which consider constant lubricant viscosity. However, there have been limited studies on the effect of oil temperature increase owing to viscous shear. Following the first part of the present study that investigated the effects of film-temperature boundary condition (FTBC) and groove number on the thermohydrodynamic (THD) lubrication characteristics of a surface-textured parallel thrust bearing with multiple rectangular grooves, this study focuses on the effect of groove depths. Current study numerically analyzes the continuity, Navier-Stokes, and energy equations with temperature-viscosity-density relations using a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, FLUENT. The results of variation in temperature, velocity, and pressure distributions as well as load-carrying capacity (LCC) and friction force indicate that groove depth and FTBC significantly influence the temperature distribution and pressure generation. The LCC is maximum near the groove depth at which the vortex starts, smaller than the ISO result. For intense grooves, the LCC of THD may be larger than that from ISO. The frictional force decreases as the groove becomes deeper, and decreases more significantly in the case of THD. The study shows that groove depth significantly influences the THD lubrication characteristics of surface-textured parallel thrust bearings.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.267-273
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• 2022

Surface texturing is the latest technology for processing grooves or dimples on the friction surface of a machine. When appropriately applied, it can reduce friction and significantly increase durability. Despite many studies over the past 20 years, most are isothermal (ISO) analyses in which the viscosity of the lubricant is constant. In practice, the viscosity changes significantly owing to the heat generated by the viscous shear of the lubricant and film-temperature boundary condition (FTBC). Although many thermohydrodynamic (THD) analyses have been performed on various sliding bearings, only few results for surface-textured bearings have been reported. This study investigates the effects of the FTBC and groove number on the THD lubrication characteristics of a surface-textured parallel thrust bearing with multiple rectangular grooves. The continuity, Navier-Stokes, and energy equations with temperature-viscosity-density relations are numerically analyzed using a commercial computational fluid dynamics code, FLUENT. The results show the pressure and temperature distributions, variations of load-carrying capacity (LCC), and friction force with four FTBCs. The FTBCs greatly influence the lubrication characteristics of surface-textured parallel thrust bearings. A groove number that maximizes the LCC exists, which depends on the FTBC. ISO analysis overestimates the LCC but underestimates friction reduction. Additional analysis of various temperature boundary conditions is required for practical applications.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.247-253
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• 2018

Temperature rise due to viscous shear of the lubricating oil generates hydrodynamic pressure, even if the lubricating surfaces are parallel. This effect, known as the thermal wedge effect, varies significantly with film-temperature boundary conditions. The bearing conducts a part of the heat generated; hence, the oil temperature varies with the thermal conductivity of the bearing. In this study, we analyze the effect of thermal conductivity on the thermohydrodynamic (THD) lubrication of parallel slider bearings. We numerically analyze the continuity equation, Navier-Stokes equation, energy equation including the temperature-viscosity and temperature-density relations for lubricants, and the heat conduction equation for bearing by creating a 2D model of the micro-bearing using the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. We then compare the variation in temperature, viscosity, and pressure distributions with the thermal conductivity. The results demonstrate that the thermal conductivity has a significant influence on THD lubrication characteristics of parallel slider bearings. The lower the thermal conductivity, the greater the pressure generation due to the thermal wedge effect resulting in a higher load-carrying capacity and smaller frictional force. The present results can function as the basic data for optimum bearing design; however, the applicability requires further studies on various operating conditions.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.341-350
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• 2000

The study reported in this paper deals with the development for parametric investigation of the influence of the rheological properties of the lubricant in the thermohydrodynamic (THD) film conditions which occur in slider and journal bearings. A parametric investigation based on a Bingham model with a shear yield stress which best fit the experimental pressure is performed for predicting the thickness of the shear Bone in lubricating films with fixed geometry between the stationary and moving surfaces. The results suggest that the shear yield stress for the lubricating film is proportional to the pressure developed in the film within the range of the investigated cases and the shear zone thickness which is of the same order of magnitude as that obtained by the empirical formula is significantly smaller than the fluid film thickness in the lubrication zone.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.303-310
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• 2014

In order to reduce friction and improve reliability, researchers have applied various surface texturing methods to highly sliding machine elements such as mechanical seals and piston rings. Despite extensive theoretical research on surface texturing, previous numerical results are only applicable to isothermal and iso-viscous conditions. Because the lubricant flow pattern of textured bearing surfaces is much more complicated than that for non-textured bearings, the Navier?Stokes equation is more suitable than the Reynolds equation for the former. This study carries out a thermohydrodynamic (THD) lubrication analysis to investigate the lubrication characteristics of a single micro-dimpled parallel thrust bearing cell. The analysis involves using the continuity, Navier?Stokes, energy, temperature?viscosity relation, and heat conduction equations with the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. This study discretizes these equations using the finite volume method and solves them using the SIMPLE algorithm. The results include finding the streamlines, pressure and temperature distributions, and variations in the friction force and leakage for various dimple radii and depths. Increasing the dimple radius and decreasing the depth causes a recirculation flow to form because of a strong vortex, and the oil temperature greatly increases compared with the non-textured case. The present numerical scheme and results are applicable to THD analysis of various surface-textured sliding bearings and can lead to further study.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.167-177
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• 2003

The study deals with the development of a thermohydrodynamic (THD) computational procedure for evaluating the pressure, temperature and velocity distributions in fluid films with very rough geometry. A parametric investigation is performed to predict the bearing behaviors in the lubricating film having the absorbed layers and their interfaces determined by the rough surfaces with Gaussian distribution. The layers are expressed as functions of the standard deviations of each surface to characterize flow patterns between both the rough sur-faces. The velocity variations and the heat generation are assumed to occur in the central (shear) zone with the same bearing length and width. The coupled effect of surface roughness and shear zone dependency on hydrodynamic pressure and temperature has been found in non-contact mode. The procedure confirms the numerically determined relationship between the pressure and film gap on condition that its roughness magnitude is smaller than the fluid film thickness.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06c
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• pp.299-304
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• 2001

An approach is developed for parametric investigation of the influence of the surface roughness on thermohydrodynamic analysis with film conditions which systemically occur in journal bearings. A parametric investigation is performed for predicting the bearing behaviors such as pressure and temperature distributions in lubricating films between the stationary and moving surfaces determined by absorbed layers and interfaces on the statistical method for rough surface with Gaussian distribution. The layers expressing the effects of surface roughness are expressed as functions of the standard deviations (${\sigma}$) of each surface and surface orientation (j) to explain the flow patterns between both rough surfaces. The coupled effect of surface roughness and shear zone dependency on hydrodynamic pressure and temperature has been found by solving the present model in non-contact mode and contact mode, respectively.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.288-295
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• 2017

In order to improve the efficiency and reliability of the machine, the friction should be minimized. The most widely used method to minimize friction is to maintain the fluid lubrication state. However, we can reduce friction only up to a certain limit because of viscosity. As a result of several recent studies, surface texturing has significantly reduced the friction in highly sliding machine elements, such as mechanical seals and thrust bearings. Thus far, theoretical studies have mainly focused on isothermal/iso-viscous conditions and have not taken into account the heat generation, caused by high viscous shear, and the temperature conditions on the bearing surface. In this study, we investigate the effect of dimple depth and film-temperature boundary conditions on the thermohydrodynamic (THD) lubrication of textured parallel slider bearings. We analyzed the continuity equation, the Navier-Stokes equation, the energy equation, and the temperature-viscosity and temperature-density relations using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, FLUENT. We compare the temperature and pressure distributions at various dimple depths. The increase in oil temperature caused by viscous shear was higher in the dimple than in the bearing outlet because of the action of the strong vortex generated in the dimple. The lubrication characteristics significantly change with variations in the dimple depths and film-temperature boundary conditions. We can use the current results as basic data for optimum surface texturing; however, further studies are required for various temperature boundary conditions.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.207-213
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• 2017

In sliding bearings, viscous friction due to high shear acting on the bearing surface raises the oil temperature. One of the mechanisms responsible for generating the load-carrying capacity in parallel surfaces is known as the viscosity wedge effect. In this paper, we investigate the effect of film-temperature boundary conditions on the thermohydrodynamic (THD) lubrication of parallel slider bearings. For this purpose, the continuity equation, Navier-Stokes equation, and the energy equation with temperature-viscosity-density relations are numerically analyzed using the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. Two different film-temperature boundary conditions are adopted to investigate the pressure generation mechanism. The temperature and viscosity distributions in the film thickness and flow directions were obtained, and the factors related to the pressure generation in the equation of motion were examined in detail. It was confirmed that the temperature gradients in the film and flow directions contribute heavily to the thermal wedge effect, due to which parallel slider bearing can not only support a considerable load but also reduce the frictional force, and its effect is significantly changed with the film-temperature boundary conditions. The present results can be used as basic data for THD analysis of surface-textured sliding bearings; however, further studies on various film-temperature boundary conditions are required.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.87-93
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• 2023

Nanofluids are dispersions of particles smaller than 100 nm (nanoparticles) in base fluids. They exhibit high thermal conductivity and are mainly applied in cooling applications. Nanolubricants use nanoparticles in base oils as lubricant additives, and have recently started gathering increased attention owing to their potential to improve the tribological and thermal performances of various machinery. Nanolubricants reduce friction and wear, mainly by the action of nanoparticles; however, only a few studies have considered the rheological properties of lubricants. In this study, we adopt a parallel slider bearing model that does not generate geometrical wedge effects, and conduct thermohydrodynamic (THD) analyses to evaluate the effect of higher thermal conductivity and viscosity, which are the main rheological properties of nanolubricants, on the lubrication performances. We use a commercial computational fluid dynamics code, FLUENT, to numerically analyze the continuity, Navier-Stokes, energy equations with temperature-viscosity-density relations, and thermal conductivity and viscosity models of the nanolubricant. The results show the temperature and pressure distributions, load-carrying capacity (LCC), and friction force for three film-temperature boundary conditions (FTBCs). The effects of the higher thermal conductivity and viscosity of the nanolubricant on the LCC and friction force differ significantly, according to the FTBC. The thermal conductivity increases with temperature, improving the cooling performance, reducing LCC, and slightly increasing the friction. The increase in viscosity increases both the LCC and friction. The analysis method in this study can be applied to develop nanolubricants that can improve the tribological and cooling performances of various equipment; however, additional research is required on this topic.