Static and Dynamic Performance Characteristics of Orifice Compensated Hydrostatic Flexible Journal Bearings with Non-Newtonian Lubricants

The combined effect of non-Newtonian lubricant behavior and bearing shell flexibility on the performance of an orifice compensated multirecess hydrostatic/hybrid journal bearing system is studied. The analysis considers the constitutive equations for the flow of a non-Newtonian lubricant through an orifice restrictor, the generalized Reynold's equation governing the flow of lubricant having variable viscosity and 3-D elasticity equations. The computed results demonstrate that loss in bearing performance due to the pseudo-plastic effect of the non-Newtonian lubricant can be mitigated by a proper selection of parameters such as the deformation coefficient ([Cbar]4) and non-linearity factor ([Kbar]) or power law index (n).