Viscosity

Example 1 A 25 mm diameter shaft is pulled through a cylindrical bearing as shown below.

The lubricant that fills the 0.33 mm gap between the shaft and the bearing is an oil having
a kinematic viscosity of 8.0 x 10-8 m2/sec and a specific gravity of 0.91. Find the force
P required to pull the shaft at a constant speed of 3 m/sec. Assume the velocity distribution
in the gap is linear. Length of the shaft, L, is 0.5 m.

Strategy:
Step 1

Calculate the shear stress in the gap.

Step 2

Calculate the shear force exerted by the lubricant on the shaft

Step 3

For equilibrium the applied force must balance the shear force.

The figure below shows an enlarged view of the gap, b, with the linear velocity distribution.

The velocity distribution is V(y) = Vo (1 y/b) where b is the gap width and Vo is the
constant velocity of the shaft.

Viscosity

Example 1 (continued)
Step 1
Calculate the shear stress in the gap.
The figure below shows an enlarged view of the gap, b, with the linear velocity distribution.

The velocity distribution is V(y) = Vo (1 y/b) where b is the gap width and Vo is the
constant velocity of the shaft. For a Newtonian fluid, = dV/dy. Thus
= ( - Vo /b )

Note: The shear stress in the fluid is constant across gap.

Recall = where is the kinematic viscosity and is the fluid density

specific gravity for lubricant = 0.91, for water is 1000 kg/m3
Step 2

Calculate the shear force exerted by the lubricant on the shaft

The shear force, FS , is just the shear stress time the area it acts on.
FS = ( - Vo /b ) (2)(D/2)L
Step 3

where L is the length of the shaft

For equilibrium the applied force must balance the shear force.

Now for equilibrium, F = 0

( - Vo /b ) (2)(D/2)L + P = 0

P = ( Vo /b ) D L ,
From the data: = 8.0 x 10-4 (m2/sec) (1000 kg/m3)(0.91), Vo = 3 m/sec,
b = 0.3 mm = 0.0003 m, D = 25 mm = 0.025 m, L = 0.5 m
P = 286 N (result)