Modeling and Prediction of Tribological Performance of Surface Textures on Spherical Hydrostatic–Hydrodynamic Bearings

Spherical hydrostatic-hydrodynamic bearings (SHHBs) combine the advantages of hydrostatic and hydrodynamic lubrication. Endowed with the characteristics of withstanding heavy loads, reducing friction, and self-aligning, they are widely applied in high-precision machinery and extreme environment systems. However, current research on the impact of surface textures on bearing lubrication performance has predominantly concentrated on journal bearings, while systematic studies concerning textures for spherical bearings remain relatively inadequate. Therefore, this study developed a lubrication model for SHHBs, aiming to analyze the impact of surface textures on such bearings, with a specific focus on investigating the effects of circular and rectangular surface textures on the load-carrying capacity and friction force of SHHBs. The research results demonstrate that both shapes of surface textures can effectively improve the performance of SHHBs. Specifically, for rectangular surface textures, when rp=3.0 mm, h¯p=2.4, the load-carrying capacity of the bearing is increased by 19.01%. It is also revealed that for both shapes of surface textures, when ε=0.4, ωz=1800 deg/s, increasing the radial clearance leads to a reduction in the bearing’s load-carrying capacity. This work provides a theoretical foundation for designing advanced SHHBs with surface texturing.