Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Analytical And Numerical Study Of A Misaligned Cavitating Hydrodynamic Cryogenic Journal Bearing, Fred Choy, Minel Braun, Y. Hu

Fred K. Choy

High speed hydrodynamic/hydrostatic journal bearings have been widely used in various types of rotating machinery. In space applications, the use of cryogenic fluids as working lubricants has become significant. The primary goal of this paper is to model the nonlinearities that occur in a cryogenic, liquid oxygen (LO2) hydrodynamic journal bearing. They will be examined through bearing-fluid-film pressure distribution and linear and non-linear bearing stiffness and damping characteristics. The numerical model that couples a variable property Reynolds' equation with the dynamics of the rotor is solved by means of a finite difference solution technique. The procedure involves an iterative scheme …