Three-Dimensional Thermoelastohydrodynamic Analysis of Pivoted Pad Thrust Bearings Part 2: Application of Theory and Comparison with Experiments

In Part 1, a computational method was described for predicting the performance of pivoted pad thrust bearings. In this second part, computed results are compared with experimental data. Three test cases are considered, which cover the range of bearing sizes normally encountered in practice, from a 150 mm diameter laboratory scale experiment through the main propulsion thrust bearings of a destroyer to a 3 m diameter bearing. Generally good agreement is obtained for both temperatures and film thicknesses.