Investigation of Dynamic Characteristic Coefficients for Water-Lubricated Rubber Bearings Under Low-Speed and High-Load Conditions

Abstract While existing models have comprehensively accounted for the coupling effects of surface roughness, contact mechanics, and fluid film in the study of mixed lubrication characteristics of water-lubricated rubber bearings (WLRBs), the critical influence of contact stiffness and contact damping on the dynamic behavior of the system has not been sufficiently elucidated. Under mixed lubrication conditions, the interfacial interaction between the rotor and the bearing is predominantly governed by asperity lateral contact. However, current theoretical models fail to accurately represent the influence of this mechanism on the dynamic characteristics of the bearings. To address this limitation, this article proposes a dynamic characteristic model for WLRBs that incorporates the asperity lateral contact effect, intending to overcome the limitations of conventional methods in calculating stiffness and damping parameters. Experimental validation confirms that the proposed model exhibits high predictive accuracy, with a maximum relative error of 9.15%. Furthermore, this study systematically analyzes the influence patterns of key operational and structural parameters—including load, rotational speed, radius clearance, and length-to-diameter ratio—on the dynamic characteristics of the dual load-carrying zones formed by asperity contact and water film.