Parametric analysis of pressure variation of fluid in hydrodynamic journal bearing

In this work, a parametric study of the pressure variation of fluid (lubricant) in a hydrodynamic journal bearing was carried out using the finite element (FEM) method. The classical Reynolds equation was used to represent the pressure behaviour. The domain of the bearing was discretized and pressure analysis was carried out on these finite elements. The overall results from these finite elements were finally assembled to represent the pressure distribution in the entire domain of the bearing. The result obtained showed that the pressure increased from the ambient pressure which was taken to be zero to its maximum value at an angular displacement of 145.37o. At this point, the pressure had a maximum value of 1.955 MPa and then drop until it returned to the ambient value at 180o. Between angular displacements of 180 and 360o, there were also pressure variations which were equal in magnitude with those between 0 and 360o but with different directions. The result obtained shows a strong positive correlation with existing results in literature