A Novel Method for Load Estimation of a Finite-Length Journal Bearing Lubricated by a Power Law Fluid

Abstract Within the applications of tribology, several machines have performance behavior strongly coupled with the behavior of one or more journal bearings. Applications of these machines exist where they must operate with non-Newtonian fluids, which complicates the analysis of the bearing behavior. Accurate approaches to journal bearing analysis with non-Newtonian fluids can lead to an increase in the accuracy of the analysis of the machines themselves. Current literature, though, does not provide an accurate numerical approach based on the assumptions of the Reynolds equation for the case of a power law fluid. This study seeks to establish the accuracy of different Reynolds-type equations for power law fluids by deriving a novel analytical solution for the case of an infinitely long journal bearing and using it to calculate the error behind two models in the literature. The error in load prediction of these Reynolds-type equations is found to be up to two times what the analytical solution predicts. This study then provides a novel approach for mitigating this error when finding the load supported by a finite-width journal bearing lubricated by a non-Newtonian fluid with applications to external gear machine simulations.