Numerical simulation on startup performance of thrust bearing under different acceleration scenarios
Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
ISSN: 0036-8792
Article publication date: 6 July 2023
Issue publication date: 28 July 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the startup performance of thrust bearing. The effects of acceleration scenarios, roughness, the area ratio of texture and texture depth on the transient startup performance of the thrust bearing were analyzed.
Design/methodology/approach
The lubrication model is solved by the Reynolds equation with the mass-conservation boundary condition. The Greenwood and Tripp contact model is used to predict asperity contact load. The finite volume method is used to discretize the governing equations.
Findings
By studying the bearing performance with different acceleration functions, it was found that the higher the acceleration at the beginning of the startup, the faster the thrust bearing operates under the hydrodynamic lubrication regime in the start stage. It appears that the friction and contact time of asperity increase with the increasing roughness. The optimal area ratio of texture is within 30%–50%. The depth of texture ranging from 1 to 2 is the best.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a transient mixed lubrication analysis model of the thrust bearing. This model can be used to analyze the variations of tribological performance and lubrication regime of the thrust bearing under different acceleration scenarios.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-09-2022-0268/
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the Shanghai Sailing Program, grant number 19YF1434500, the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai, grant number 21ZR1445000, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant number 51875344, 52130502 and Key Project of National Defense Basic Scientific Research, grant number JCKY2020203B037.
Citation
Gu, C., Dai, L., Zhang, D. and Wang, S. (2023), "Numerical simulation on startup performance of thrust bearing under different acceleration scenarios", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 75 No. 6, pp. 654-662. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-09-2022-0268
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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