THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Mechanical Department

COURSE: TRIBOLOGY EM 560 Tutorial Date: 19.12.2016

QUESTION ONE

An infinitely long linear wedge bearing of length L = 100 [mm] and width B = 20 [mm] is operating
under an inlet film thickness of h0 = 20 [m]. Assuming constant velocity U = 10 [m/s] and constant
oil viscosity =3.5x10-3 [Pas]

i. Find the maximum load the bearing can support,

ii. Find the non-dimensional load
iii. Calculate the inlet film thickness.
QUESTION TWO
A journal bearing of 0.06 [m] diameter, 0.015 [m] length and 10 [m] clearance operating at 1000
[rpm] supports a load of 10 [kN]. Assuming isothermal conditions and optimal eccentricity ratio of
= 0.7, find the oil viscosity needed to lubricate this bearing.
QUESTION THREE
A journal bearing has to be designed to support a radial load of 1280 N which is placed on a shaft of
96mm diameter. The shaft rotates at 1800 rpm and its eccentricity is 0.038 mm. The desired
temperature rise of the lubricant is to be 10 oC. As the bearing will be well cooled, it may be assumed
that 70% of the heat generated will be convected by the oil.

Design the bearing by determining its performance characteristics if the following parameters are
given:

L = 0.102; c = 5.1 x 10-5m; = 4.1 x 10-2Nsm-2; Specific heat = 1800 J/Kg0C; density = 880 Kg/m3

QUESTION FOUR
A plain bearing with hydrodynamic lubrication is to be designed to carry a load of 2500 N at a shaft
speed of 30 revs per second. Initial assumptions are that a SAE grade 40 oil will be used and the
mean oil temperature in the bearing is 68.3oC. At this temperature the oil has an absolute viscosity of
0.0275 Pa.s.
The density is assumed to be 850 kg/m3 and the specific heat 1800 J/kg oC .
As a starting point it will be assumed that the: length / diameter ratio = 1 and for a first calculation
length = diameter = 2 radius = 40 mm will be used. l = d = 2 r = 40mm
It is also assumed that the bearing has a radial clearance of 0.04 mm.
Determine the operating characteristics of the bearing. (Use the graph in Fig. 1 for analysis)