A Study of the Effect of Various

Recess Shapes on Hybrid

Journal Bearing Performance
Gen Fu1
Laboratory for Turbomachinery
and Components,
Using Computational Fluid
Department of Biomedical
Engineering and Mechanics,
Dynamics and Response
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University,
Norris Hall, Room 107,
Surface Method
495 Old Turner Street,
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Hybrid bearings are mostly used in high-speed and load situations due to their better sta-
e-mail: gen8@vt.edu
bility and loading capacity. They are typically designed with recess grooves to enhance
both static and dynamic performance of the bearing. Previous theoretical studies on the
influence of the recess geometrical shapes often utilize the Reynolds equation method.
Alexandrina Untaroiu The aim of this paper is to analytically study the influence of various recess geometrical
Laboratory for Turbomachinery
shapes on hybrid journal bearings. A three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynam-
and Components,
ics (CFD) model of a hybrid journal bearing is built, and a new method of response sur-
Department of Biomedical
face model is employed to determine the equilibrium position of the rotor. Based on the
Engineering and Mechanics,
response surface model, an optimization scheme is used to search around the equilibrium
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
position to get an accurate solution. The current analysis includes the geometries of rec-
and State University,
tangular, circular, triangular, elliptical, and annular shaped recesses. All these different
Norris Hall, Room 324,
shapes are studied assuming the same operating conditions, and static properties are
495 Old Turner Street,
used as the indices of the bearing performance. This study proposes a new design process
Blacksburg, VA 24061
using a CFD method with the ability of calculating the equilibrium position. The flow
e-mail: alexu@vt.edu
rate, fluid film thickness, and recess flow pattern are analyzed for various recess shapes.
The CFD model is validated by published experimental data. The results show that the
response surface model method is fast and robust in determining the rotor equilibrium
position, even though a 3D-CFD model is utilized. The results suggest that recess shape
is a dominant factor in hybrid bearing design. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4035952]

Keywords: hybrid bearing, response surface, DOE, CFD

Introduction angled orifice. The best performance configuration was proven to

be the recess with angled orifice. Sharma et al. [2] numerically
Hybrid bearings are widely used in high-speed operation condi-
studied the influence of recess shape on hybrid journal bearings.
tions due to their high load capacity and low friction at transient
The different recess geometries studied include square, circular,
stage. During the past years, numerous numerical studies of recess
triangular, and elliptical recesses. The flow rate, film thickness,
hybrid bearings have been carried out. The theoretical model has
and rotordynamic coefficients were discussed. In another study on
been well established to match the experimental data. Various
a thrust pad bearing [3], Sharma et al. concluded that the chosen
aspects of hybrid bearings, including types of restrictors, number
geometrical shape of the recess should be conjunct with a proper
of recesses, fluid properties, and the shape of the recess, have
type of restrictor to obtain optimal performance. Singh et al. [4]
been investigated. Recently, the effects of micropolar lubricant,
theoretically studied the multirecess journal bearing with various
slip region, and geometric imperfections were studied. However,
recess geometries. The rectangular, circular, elliptical, annular,
most of the previous studies employ the two-dimensional (2D)
and triangular recess shapes were studied. They used the
Reynolds equation to solve the fluid field and, as a result, the flow
Newton–Rapson method to iteratively calculate the equilibrium
patterns inside the pockets are not fully understood. In these stud-
position. Their study revealed that the circular recessed bearing
ies, the bearing equilibrium position is determined iteratively by
resulted in minimum fluid film thickness under the same loading
solving the Reynolds equation. Also, the studies which consider
conditions. Brajdic-Mitidieri et al. [5] proposed a numerical
various recess shapes deal with four- or six-pocket bearings.
model to study the friction performance of a pocketed pad bear-
Franchek and Childs [1] experimentally studied five-pocket
ing. The results showed that closed pockets can produce a reduc-
hybrid bearings with four different types of recesses including rec-
tion in the friction coefficient. Frene et al. [6] included the inertia
tangular, circular, triangular, and rectangular recess with an
effects of the fluid into the computational model. They also pre-
sented a theory to obtain the characteristics in turbulent flow
1
Corresponding author. regime. Nicodemus and Sharma [7] studied the effect of different
Contributed by the Fluids Engineering Division of ASME for publication in the
JOURNAL OF FLUIDS ENGINEERING. Manuscript received September 7, 2016; final
geometric-shaped recesses on the behavior of surface wear. In this
manuscript received February 1, 2017; published online April 20, 2017. Assoc. study, Dufrane’s abrasive model was employed to approximate
Editor: Matevz Dular. the wearing. The results showed that a square grooved bearing is

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 suitable for operating under the turbulence region. In a subsequent
study of the hybrid bearing using a micropolar lubricant with vari-
ous geometric-shaped recesses, Nicodemus et al. concluded that a
circular recess provided the largest film thickness, while a triangu-
lar recess yielded a larger direct fluid film damping coefficient [8].
Rajput and Sharma [9] investigated the effect of recess shapes
considering geometric imperfections. Their results revealed that
proper selection of recess shape can reduce the negative influence
of different geometric imperfections. Sharma and Dharmendra
[10] also conducted a theoretical study on the recess geometry of
a two-lobe, four-pocket hybrid journal bearing with geometrically
imperfect journal. The results showed that an elliptical recess can

Fig. 1 Fluid film domain of the baseline model

Fig. 2 Five different recess shapes: (a) rectangular, (b) triangular, (c) circular, (d) elliptical, and (e) annular

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 provide the largest direct stiffness in vertical direction. Yadav and @q @ ðq Uj Þ
Sharma [11] numerically simulated the influence of tilt and recess þ ¼0 (1)
@t @Xj
shape on the characteristics of a thrust pad bearing. Both dynamic
and static performance was analyzed, but Reynolds equation was
where U is the velocity vector, and q is the density
used to solve the fluid domain. Lin et al. [12] studied the effect of
slip surface on hybrid bearings. The end and start locations of the @ ð q Ui Þ @ @p @
slip area were proved to be important for bearing performance. To þ ðqUi Uj Þ ¼  þ ðsij  qui uj Þ þ SM (2)
further investigate the properties of compensated hybrid bearings, @t @Xj @Xi @Xj
the effects of elastic deformation were also considered in some
studies [13–17]. In addition to the traditional recess shape, other
configurations such as deep–shallow recesses and ladder-type
recesses were also studied [18]. With computing power growing
exponentially, the adoption of three-dimensional-computational
fluid dynamics (3D-CFD) methods in recent years to simulate
fluid flows in bearings and seals has become an attractive alterna-
tive to the use of 2D Reynolds equation [19–21].
In most of the previous studies, the types of bearings were
limited to four- and six-pocket recess hybrid bearings only. Also,
Reynolds equation was employed in the majority of the theoretical
analyses. This study is aimed to investigate the performance of
a five-pocket water-lubricated hybrid bearing, with different
geometric-shaped recesses, operating under the same working
conditions. A new method for determining the equilibrium
position of the journal using the response surface technique is pro-
posed. Five different bearing recess shapes, including rectangular,
circular, elliptical, triangular, and annular shapes, are compared in
this study. The approach used in this paper is intended to be
informative for bearing designers.

Numerical Model
In this analysis, the baseline model is a five-pocketed hybrid
journal bearing with rectangular recess, as shown in Fig. 1. The
stator is shown in Fig. 1(a), and the fluid domain replicating the
air gap between the stator and rotor walls is illustrated in
Fig. 1(b). As shown in the figure, it is a common design for
hybrid bearings and is selected from the literature. All the differ-
ent recess shapes in this study have the same area, with a land
area ratio of 0.2. The numerical model is built using ANSYS CFX.
A 3D-CFD model is created for each recess geometry case. For
all the different geometries considered, the loading force is the
same. Figure 2 illustrates all the recess geometries investigated
in this study.

Governing Equations. To solve the fluid flow in this study,

three main governing equations are solved simultaneously

Table 1 Operating conditions

Fig. 3 Mesh for rectangular recess
Parameters Symbols Values

Operating conditions
Rotational speed N 16,400 rpm
Feeding oil temperature T 20  C Table 3 Comparison of calculated and experimental results
Feeding pressure Pf 7 MPa
Loading force F 10,200 N Method Load force (N) Difference

CFD 10,232 2.3%

Experiment 10,000
Table 2 Mesh independence study

Mesh density Load force (N)

Table 4 Range of design variables
956,257 9125
1,052,564 9852 Variables Range Initial value
1,635,538 10,723
1,957,676 10,232 Eccentricity ratio 0.1–0.9 0.1
3,265,610 10,224 Attitude angle (deg) 20–80 30

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 Fig. 4 Overall working process

where stress tensor s ¼ lðrU þ ðrUÞT  ð2=3Þd r  UÞ, and SM

is the external force
 
@ ðqhtot Þ @ ð pÞ @ @ @T
 þ ðqUj htot Þ ¼ k  qhuj
@t @t @Xj @Xj @Xj
@
þ ½Uj ðsij  qui uj Þ þ SE
@Xj
(3)

where htot ¼ h þ ð1=2ÞU 2 þ k is the total enthalpy, k is the turbu-

lence kinetic energy, T represents the temperature, and SE is the
external heat source.
Incompressible and isoviscous conditions are assumed for the
Fig. 5 Fluid film reaction versus eccentricity ratio
fluid used in this study. The above equations are closed by the tur-

Table 5 Equilibrium of different geometric shapes

Variables Rectangular Triangular Circular Elliptical Annular

Eccentricity ratio 0.56 0.41 0.59 0.80 0.60

Attitude angle (deg) 24.725 49.74563 41.159094 23.4318 42.75344

Table 6 Variation of flow rate with respect to different geometric shapes

Variables Rectangular Triangular Circular Elliptical Annular

1
Flow rate (kg s ) 1.59149 1.62149 1.51587 1.68014 1.68505

Table 7 Variation of friction torque with respect to different geometric shapes

Variables Rectangular Triangular Circular Elliptical Annular

Friction torque (Nm) 6.71382 6.96264 7.23021 6.63923 6.70383

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 Fig. 6 Response surface plot for each recess geometrical shape: (a) rectangular,
(b) triangular, (c) circular, (d) elliptical, and (e) annular

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 Fig. 6 (Continued)

bulence model, which is k–e in this study. The values of k and e five inlet ports, the outlet oil pressure is the atmosphere pressure,
are derived from the following equations: the total energy is considered, the stator and rotor surfaces are set
" # to be adiabatic walls, and the turbulence model selected is k–e.
 The working conditions are shown in Table 1.
@ ðqkÞ @ @ lt @k
þ ðqUi kÞ ¼  lþ þ pk  qe þ pkb
@t @Xj @Xi rk @Xj
Mesh Independence Study and Baseline Model Validation.
(4)
In this study, all the different geometry cases are meshed using
"  # the same strategy. The main fluid film is meshed using the swept
@ ðqeÞ @ @ lt @e e method. The mesh independence study indicates that 15 layers
þ ðqUi eÞ ¼  lþ þ Gðpk ; qe; peb Þ
@t @Xj @Xi re @Xj k across the fluid film are needed to discretize the space between the
stationary and rotating walls. In the five recesses, unstructured
(5) mesh with inflation layers along all the boundaries is employed.
The five pockets and main fluid film region are connected using
where e represents the turbulence eddy dissipation, pkb and peb are
general grid interface connections. In order to decide a suitable
the buoyancy forces, pk represents the turbulence production due
mesh density, it is necessary to make sure that the solution is inde-
to viscous forces, rk and re are the constants, and lt is the turbu-
pendent of mesh resolution. A mesh independence study is con-
lence viscosity, which is linked to turbulence kinetic energy and
ducted for the baseline model (the bearing model with rectangular
dissipation by the following relationship:
recesses as shown in Table 2). In the mesh independence study,
the numerical results are considered to be independent of mesh
k2
lt ¼ Cl q (6) density when the load force shows little variation as the density
e increases. For the baseline model, the mesh density is increased
gradually by changing the number of element layers across the
thin film. In Table 2, the first mesh has two layers and the last
Boundary Conditions. The boundary conditions used for the mesh has 20 layers. It can be observed that the results for the last
analysis are as follows: the inlet oil pressure is 7 MPa at all the three meshes are very similar. Therefore, the results can be

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 Fig. 7 Predicted results versus observed results: (a) rectangular, (b) triangular, (c) circular,
(d) elliptical, and (e) annular
considered as independent of the mesh density. The fourth mesh
in the table is selected for the baseline model to ensure the accu-
racy as well as save computing time. The resulting mesh density
is approximately 1.9  106 elements. As shown in Table 2, this is
the minimum mesh density that gives a mesh-independent solu-
tion. Figure 3 shows the mesh of the model with a rectangular
recess.
The model with rectangular recesses employed in this study
was experimentally tested by Franchek and Childs [1]. Table 3
presents the comparison between the load capacity derived from
the CFD model and the experimental data from the literature [1].
As Table 3 shows, the numerical results are in good agreement
with the experimental data.
Response Surface Model. A response surface method is used
to obtain the equilibrium position for the journal in this study. The
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eccentricity ratio and attitude angle are selected as design varia-
bles in the design of experiments (DOE) process. Table 4 shows
the range chosen for each design variable. The objective functions
selected are the vertical reaction force and lateral reaction force
on the shaft. The position of the shaft for a given load and work-
ing condition can be obtained by using this response surface
method. Figure 4 shows the overall scheme of this analysis. All
the geometrical shapes of recess studied are compared together
under the same loading force. All the journal positions are calcu-
lated using the statistical method instead of the traditional iterative
method, which is time-consuming.
The DesignXplorer Systems in ANSYS is used to construct the
response surface model. Sampling points are selected using the
DOE technique [22]. Central composite design [23] is employed
in this study. Central composite design is very efficient to build a
second-order model for the response variables. By using this
JUNE 2017, Vol. 139 / 061104-7
 Fig. 7 (Continued)
technique, a complete three-level factorial experiment design is
avoided, making this response surface model complete quickly.
After solving all the design points in the DOE process, the results
are used to create a quadratic response surface model. The rela-
tionship between the reaction force of the fluid film and the shaft
position is then established. A forward stepwise regression
method is used to remove the terms that are insignificant in the
regression model. A partial F-test is utilized to determine the sig-
nificance of the individual terms [24]. Based on this surface
response model, a further optimization scheme is used to find the
journal position. In this study, an objective-driven system is used
to search for the shaft position. The objectives of the optimization
process are to derive a vertical reaction force that equals the
applied load force and to derive a zero lateral reaction force.
Thus, at this position, the shaft is in equilibrium. To achieve this
goal, the multi-objective genetic algorithm is used in the response
surface optimization. This algorithm provides a more refined
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approach than the normal screening method. After each search, a
set of candidate points are generated and the point that displays
the minimum difference with the applied load force is selected as
a refinement point in this study. Then, an additional search is con-
ducted based on the refinement point. Through these refinements,
the ultimate equilibrium position is then derived. For each recess
geometry, the shaft position is derived using the above method.
To validate the response surface method used in this analysis, the
results for the equilibrium position of the hybrid bearing with rec-
tangular recesses have been compared with the published data [1],
as shown in Fig. 5.
Results and Discussion
Based on the method discussed previously, the quality of the
response surface method and the static performance of the hybrid
Transactions of the ASME
 Fig. 7 (Continued)
bearing for each recess geometry are analyzed. All the different
recess shapes have the same land area ratio of 0.2.
Equilibrium Position. Table 5 shows the equilibrium position
of the journal for each geometrical shape of the recess considered
under the same applied load force of 10,200 N. As shown in the
table, the eccentricity ratio of the elliptic recess is the largest,
while that of the triangular recess shape is the smallest. Therefore,
the shape of the recess has a significant effect on the position of
the shaft. As the eccentricity ratio is correlated with the minimum
fluid film thickness, the value of hmin is also affected by the shape
of the recess. As a result, the fluid film needed to support the
shaft during the transient stage would vary with the recess shape.
Table 6 shows the variation of the flow rate with respect to differ-
ent geometric shapes. It can be observed that the flow rate is high-
est for the annular recess and lowest for the circular recess. With
this table, when designing the recess shape for hybrid bearings, an
appropriate shape can be selected economically by considering
the flow rate. From the pumping power perspective, a circular
recess shape is superior since it results in a lower flow rate under
the same loading conditions, thus requiring less power to pump.
Table 7 shows the friction torque for each case. As shown in the
table, the highest friction torque was generated by the circular
recess, while the lowest friction torque was associated with the
elliptical recess.
Response Surface Model. Figure 6 shows the surface response
plots for the response models generated for each of the individual
geometric shape of recess. From these figures, it is clear that the
Table 8 Coefficient of determination and adjusted coefficient of determination
Variables Rectangular
Coefficient of determination 0.998487
Adjusted coefficient of determination 0.997276
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surface response plot for the elliptic recess shows a concave
shape, which is different from the other plots. A strong interaction
effect exists between the attitude angle and eccentricity ratio.
To evaluate the quality of all the response surface models used
in this study, the goodness of fit is analyzed. From Fig. 7, it can be
seen that the predicted results are in good agreement with the
observed results. All of the scatter points in the plots are very
close to the diagonal lines. Therefore, the response surface model
fits the data very well. Table 8 shows the coefficient of determina-
tion and adjusted coefficient of determination for each of the
recess shapes. In the table, all of the coefficients are very close to
the unit, which indicates that all the regression models used to
predict the shaft position explain 99% of the response variation
about the mean value. Also, the differences between the coeffi-
cient of determination and adjusted coefficient of determination
are very small. So, the regression models of all the geometrical
shapes of the recess are very accurate for predicting the fluid film
reaction force.
Bearing Flow Pattern. Figure 8 shows the fluid film pressure
distribution on all the different geometric shapes of recess consid-
ered in this study. It can be observed that pressure values are
higher in the recess area. Among all these shapes, the rectangular
and elliptical shapes display little pressure variations inside the
recess. It can also be observed from Fig. 8(a) that peak values of
pressure occur near the edge of the recess. In the rectangular case,
this location is close to the minimum film thickness, where the
convergence region starts to diverge. As shown in the figure,
therefore, the occurrence of peak values may be due to the fact
that the turbulence intensity of the flow around the minimum fluid
Triangular Circular Elliptical Annular
0.997628 0.990432 0.933521 0.995978
0.996443 0.98804 0.900281 0.993565
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 Fig. 8 Pressure distribution on the rotor surface: (a) rectangular, (b) triangular, (c) circular,
(d) elliptical, and (e) annular

film thickness position is very high, so that a high-pressure spot is
formed at the end of the convergence region. Once the flow enters
the divergence region of the fluid film, the pressure encounters a
rapid decrease, which leads to a low-pressure spot. The low pres-
sure is also considered as an indication of cavitation, where the
liquid turns into the gas phase due to the low pressure. Liquid cav-
itation can influence the load capacity, the rotordynamic stability
of the system, and also can cause damage to the stator surface.
Numerous numerical models can predict the cavitation
phenomenon dynamically. However, in the current steady-state
model, the low-pressure area is very small compared to the overall
bearing land area, thus its effect on the load capacity is limited.
Therefore, the effect of the low-pressure spot on the rotor surface
can be neglected.
Figure 9 shows the temperature distribution on the fluid film for
each geometrical shape of the recess. In this study, the supply oil
is set at a temperature of 20  C. It can be noticed that the triangu-
lar, elliptical, and annular shapes show smaller temperature rise

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 Fig. 8 (Continued)

among all the cases. Also, it can be seen that the temperature of
the oil is increasing as the oil flows out. Therefore, the highest
temperature occurs near the outlet region. Although all the recess
shapes have the same land area ratio of 0.2, different shapes still
significantly affect the temperature distribution in the fluid film
under the same loading conditions.
The flow inside the recess for each case is also compared in
Fig. 10. The recess shown in the figure is one of the five
recesses that lies on the vertical axis along the loading direction.
The streamlines displayed are on the cross section of the fluid
film. It can be seen in the figures that a vortex occurs near the
corner region. For the annular recess, two vortices are formed
near the oil inlet port. This is because the circumferential length
of annular recess is very small, and thus, the vortex occurs on
both sides of the inlet flow, which will increase the power loss
due to the turbulence. Also, on the left corners, the flow pattern
is almost the same, except for the rectangular recess shape. In
all other recess shapes, a vortex is followed by a flow distortion
near the wall on the left side of the recess. In the rectangular
recess case, however, there is no flow distortion following the

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 Fig. 8 (Continued)

Fig. 9 Temperature distribution on the rotor surface: (a) rectangular, (b) triangular, (c) circu-
lar, (d) elliptical, and (e) annular

vortex. This maybe due to the fact that, in the axial direction, integrity and not be divided into a small vortex and a flow dis-
the rectangular recess has the maximum length. Therefore, the tortion near the wall. On the other hand, from the power loss
fluid inside the recess can be fully developed in the axial direc- perspective, a smaller vortex may cause less energy loss due to
tion. As a result, the vortex formed near the corner can keep its the high viscosity of the oil.

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 Fig. 9 (Continued)

Table 9 shows the vortex core vorticity, vortex core radius, and
vortex core position for each recess shape. The coordinate used
for vortex core position is demonstrated in Fig. 10(a). The origin
is located at the right corner of each recess. As shown in the table,
for rectangular and triangular recess, the vorticity of the right
corner vortex is smaller, but for the remaining three cases, the vor-
ticity near the left corner is smaller. The vorticity distribution on
the same plane is also displayed in Fig. 11. As can be observed
from these figures, the maximum vorticity occurs around the inlet
orifice.
Conclusions
In this study, the effect of various geometric shapes of recess on
the performance of a five-pocket hybrid journal bearing under the
same loading conditions is analyzed. The recesses considered
include rectangular, triangular, circular, elliptical, and annular
shape. In addition, a new method based on the response surface
model is employed to determine the equilibrium position of the
journal for each recess shape. The results show that the geometric
shape of the recess is critical for bearing performance. In the

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 Fig. 9 (Continued)

surface response model method, the central composite design and
multi-objective optimization techniques are used. By comparing
with the published experimental data, the method proposed in this
study to determine the journal position is found to be efficient and
accurate. The fluid film thickness varies with different geometrical
shapes under the same loading force. According to the numerical
results, the comparison of minimum fluid film thickness shows the
following trend: htriangular>hrectangular > hcircular > hannular > helliptical.
Also, the value of lubricant flow rate, Q, is significantly affected by
the recess shape. Under the same loading force, the maximum flow
rate corresponds to the annular recess and the following pattern
is obtained: Qannular > Qelliptical > Qtriangular > Qrectangular > Qcircular.
The friction torque is critical from the power loss perspective. The
results for friction torque corresponding to different recess shapes are

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 Fig. 10 Streamlines on the cross section of the loaded recess: (a) rectangular, (b) triangular,
(c) circular, (d) elliptical, and (e) annular

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 Fig. 10 (Continued)

Table 9 The properties of the vortex core near the corner of the recesses

Recess shape Vortex core vorticity (s1) Vortex core radius (mm) Vortex core position (mm)

Rectangular1 27,514 1.02 (1.09, 1.05)

Rectangular2 30,759 1.03 (24.50, 1.05)
Triangular1 9290 0.85 (1.59, 1.05)
Triangular2 12,916 1.03 (23.29, 1.05)
Circular1 14,676 1.95 (0.67, 2.95)
Circular2 19,925 0.55 (23.45, 0.56)
Elliptical1 22,379 1.05 (1.06, 1.05)
Elliptical2 17,971 0.65 (22.61, 1.05)
Annular1 18,490 1.25 (0.92, 2.85)
Annular2 32,881 1.05 (6.12, 1.06)
Annular2 6997 0.75 (30.5, 0.76)

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 Fig. 11 Vorticity distribution on the cross section of the loaded recess: (a) rectangular, (b) tri-
angular, (c) circular, (d) elliptical, and (e) annular

found to follow this pattern: Tcircular > Ttriangular > Trectangular > Tannular Acknowledgment
> Telliptical. All the different recess shapes have almost the same flow
Gen Fu was selected as one of the 2016 ASME FED Graduate
pattern in which a vortex occurs near the inside corner of the recess.
Scholars of the Year.
The rectangular recess shows a larger vortex near the entrance of the
recess compared to the other geometrical shapes of the recess.
The results suggest that recess shape is a dominant factor
in hybrid bearing design. This study proposed a new design pro- Nomenclature
cess for a 3D-CFD bearing model with the ability to calculate Al ¼ area of the land
equilibrium position and is expected to be useful to bearing Ar ¼ area of the recesses
designers. F ¼ lift force

Journal of Fluids Engineering JUNE 2017, Vol. 139 / 061104-17

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 Fig. 11 (Continued)

htot ¼ total enthalpy SM ¼ external force

k¼ turbulence kinetic energy T¼ temperature
N¼ rotation speed U¼ velocity vector
Pk ¼ turbulence production due to viscous forces e¼ turbulence eddy dissipation
Pkb ¼ buoyancy force lt ¼ turbulence viscosity
Peb ¼ buoyancy forces q¼ density
Pf ¼ feeding pressure rk ¼ constant
Q¼ flow rate re ¼ constant
SE ¼ external heat source s¼ stress tensor

061104-18 / Vol. 139, JUNE 2017 Transactions of the ASME

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 Fig. 11 (Continued)
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