Surface roughness effects in a short porous journal bearing with a couple stress fluid

Abstract

In this paper, a theoretical study of the effect of surface roughness in hydrodynamic lubrication of a porous journal bearing with couplestress fluid as lubricant is made. The modified Reynolds equations accounting for the couple stresses and randomized surface roughness structure are mathematically derived. The Christensen stochastic theory of hydrodynamic lubrication of rough surfaces is used to study the effects of surface roughness on the static characteristics of a short porous journal bearing with couplestress fluid as lubricant. Further, it is assumed that, the roughness asperity heights are small compared to the film thickness. It is observed that, the effects of surface roughness on the bearing characteristics are more pronounced for couplestress fluids as compared to the Newtonian fluids. © 2002 Published by The Japan Society of Fluid Mechanics and Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.