Behavior of micropolar lubricated lobe

bearings: influence of non-circularity

parameters
M. Nekoeimehr and A.D. Rahmatabadi
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran, and
R. Rashidi
Payame Noor University of Meybod, Yazd, Iran

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the static performance characteristics of lobe journal bearings lubricated with a micropolar fluid,
considering effect of non-circularity. Number of lobes and their preload value are the non-circularity parameters considered in the present study.
The bearings undertaken for the investigation are two, three and four-lobe symmetric journal bearings with finite width.
Design/methodology/approach – For this purpose, modified form of Reynolds equation is derived, based on Eringen’s micropolar fluid theory
and it is solved numerically using finite element method (FEM). The effect of the non-circularity parameters of bearings on the steady-state
performance characteristics such as load carrying capacity, attitude angle, coefficient of friction and side leakage flow are presented and
discussed.
Findings – The results show that the number of lobes and their preload value can influence the performance of lobe bearings. It is seen that, in order to
provide certain improvement over simple cylindrical bearings, the non-circularity parameters of lobe bearings must be chosen correctly. There is no
single optimum profile for multi-lobe bearing application.
Originality/value – Lobe bearings, compared with simple circular bearings, offer several geometric parameters to designers. These parameters must
be chosen correctly, so that the requirements of a specific application can be fulfilled.

Keywords Fluids, Flow, Lubrication, Mechanical behaviour of materials, Micropolar fluids, Lobe bearing, Finite element method

Paper type Research paper

Nomenclature R ¼ journal radius (m)

U ¼ velocity of journal (m/s)
C ¼ conventional radial clearance (m) vx, vy, vz ¼ component of lubricant velocity in the x, y
Cm ¼ minor clearance when journal and bearing and z directions (m/s)
geometric centers are coincident (m) X, Y, Z ¼ Cartesian axes with origin at bearing
co, ca, cd ¼ coefficient of angular viscosities geometric center
Ff ¼ friction force (N) Xj, Yj ¼ coordinates of journal center
F f ¼ non-dimensional friction force ððC=mURLÞFÞ W ¼ resultant of load (N)
f ¼ friction coefficient W  ¼ non-dimensional load ððC 2 =mULR2 ÞW Þ
h ¼ film thickness (m) 
W x ; Wy  ¼ non-dimensional load components in x and y
lm ¼ non-dimensional characteristic length of direction
micropolar fluid, l m ¼ C=L wx, wy, wz ¼ microrotation velocity components about the
N ¼ coupling number, N ¼ ðmr =ðm þ mr ÞÞ1=2 axes (1/s)
O ¼ bearing center 1 ¼ eccentricity ratio
Oj ¼ journal center u ¼ angular coordinate measured from x-axes
p ¼ fluid film pressure (N/m2) uio ¼ angle of lobe line of centers
p ¼ non-dimensional fluid film pressure ui1 ; ui2 ¼ angles at leading and cavitating edge of the
ððC 2 =mURÞpÞ lobe
Q ¼ side leakage flow (m3/s) d ¼ preload of the bearing (Cm/C)

Q ¼ non-dimensional side leakage flow f ¼ attitude angle
m ¼ viscosity of the Newtonian fluid (Ns/m2)
ðð6L=CUR2 ÞQÞ
mr ¼ microrotation viscosity (Ns/m2)
L ¼ characteristic length of micropolar fluid (m),
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at L ¼ ððca þ cd Þ=4mÞ1=2
www.emeraldinsight.com/0036-8792.htm r ¼ lubricant density (kg/m3)
l ¼ aspect ratio, bearing length to diameter ratio
l0 ¼ second viscosity coefficient (Ns/m2)
Industrial Lubrication and Tribology v ¼ angular speed of the journal (1/s)
65/2 (2013) 100– 107
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0036-8792] i ¼ subscript and superscript for lobe designation
[DOI 10.1108/00368791311303465] _ ¼ superscript for non-dimensional quantities

100
 Behavior of micropolar lubricated lobe bearings
M. Nekoeimehr, A.D. Rahmatabadi and R. Rashidi
1. Introduction
Due to advances in modern technology and the increasing
requirements of high-efficient machine equipments, new
designs of bearings and improved lubricants have been
developed.
From lubrication point of view, much work has been done
on the Newtonian type of lubrication. However, to meet the
challenges of the modern industries, most of the modern
lubricants are lubricants with additives which make the flow
non-Newtonian. Such lubricants consist of a carrier medium
which is the main lubricating agent and the additives that can
be thought as suspended microstructure particles. This kind
of lubricants posses micropolar fluid characteristics and the
theory of micropolar fluids (Eringen, 1966), have been
applied to solve the lubrication of such fluids. There are many
research works where investigators have used the micropolar
fluid theory for the study of different bearing systems such as
slider bearings (Ramanaihah and Dubey, 1977; Singh and
Sinha, 1982), journal bearings (Zaheeruddin and Isa, 1978a, b;
Huang et al., 1988; Khonsari and Brewe, 1989), squeeze film
bearings (Agrawal et al., 1972; Balaram, 1975; Bujurke et al.,
1987), porous bearings (Sinha, 1977; Zaheeruddin and Isa,
1978a, b; Isa and Zaheeruddin, 1980) and non-circular lobed
bearings (Prabhakaran Nair et al., 2007; Rahmatabadi et al.,
2010a, b). All the results reported reveal the prominent feature
of increasing load capacity and decreasing friction coefficient
for micropolar fluids.
In order to overcome the problems encountered with the
use of simple cylindrical bore bearings, especially their poor
instability characteristics, during the past decades various
non-circular bearing configurations have been developed by
many researchers and bearing designers. Among these
bearings, multi-lobe fixed profile bearings, such as elliptical
(two-lob), three- and four-lobe bearings are the most
commonly used. Theoretical studies of Pinkus (1956, 1959)
are among the initial works on multi-lobe bearings, where the
advantages of profile bearings has been reported.
Lobe bearing configurations, as against circular
configurations, offer several choice of geometric parameters
to designers. They are such as number of lobes and their
preload value, tilt and mount angles and the oil groove size.
However, these parameters must be chosen correctly, otherwise
multi-lobe bearings may not provide any improvement over
simple cylindrical bearing (Tondl, 1965; Leader et al., 1980;
Akkok and Ettles, 1980; Lanes et al., 1982).
Studies concerned with the performance of lobe profile
bearings and the influence of their geometric parameters are
many, some of them which are in connection with the present
work are as follows. The influence of bearing type selection on
the stability of different types of profile bearings, considering
the effects of preload factor, offset factor and load orientation,
has been investigated by Garner et al. (1980). They have
concluded that use of profile bore bearings can significantly
increase the speed at which oil film whirl occurs, relative to a
cylindrical bore bearing. The studies of Lanes and Flack
(1982) on three-mass flexible rotor in seven different sets of
preload and offset three-lobe bearings has showed that larger
preloads, produces the highest stability and that low offset
factors also demonstrate the highest stability. Further studies
of Flack and Lanes (1983) regarding the effect of three-lobe
bearing geometries on the unbalance response of flexible
rotors has indicated that the smallest unbalance response
101
Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
Volume 65 · Number 2 · 2013 · 100 –107
occurs at low preload factors and thus one bearing design is
not necessarily best from the stability and unbalance response
point of view (Flack and Allaire, 1984). From the experiment
works of Zuck and Flack (1987) on the stability of overhang
rotor in a preloaded three-lobe bearing, it has been reported
that large preloads are again advantageous. The theoretical
evaluation of the steady-state performance of different types
of fixed profile bearings with the consideration of thermal
effects (Ma and Taylor, 1999) has showed that the bearing
performance is greatly affected by the shaft running speed,
moderately affected by the load and less significantly by the
preload factor. From the investigations on the performance of
a four-lobe pressure-dam bearing (Mehta et al., 2003), it has
been seen that the values of minimum film thickness and oil
flow coefficients decrease whereas the values of friction
coefficient increases with the increase in preload factor for a
particular value of Sommerfeld number.
Though, many research works have been carried out on the
performance of plain and profile journal bearings, lubricated
with both Newtonian and non-Newtonian lubricants, however,
studies dealing with micropolar lubricated lobe bearings are
limited (Prabhakaran Nair et al., 2007; Rahmatabadi et al.,
2010a, b). Hence, the object of the present work is to
investigate the influence of non-circularity parameters on the
static performance of multi-lobe journal bearings, lubricated
with micropolar fluids. This will complement the other works
on micropolar lubricated bearings which has been reported in
literature. Figure 1 shows the lobe bearing configurations
which are undertaken for the present study.
2. Governing equations
The performance analysis of micropolar lubricated non-
circular lobe bearing involves solution of the governing
equations separately for an individual lobe of the bearing,
considering each lobe as an independent partial bearing.
Figure 2 shows the geometric details of a non-circular
bearing configuration.
Figure 1 Schematic geometries of circular and lobe bearings
y y
x x
circular two-lobe
y y
x x
three-lobe four-lobe
 Behavior of micropolar lubricated lobe bearings Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
M. Nekoeimehr, A.D. Rahmatabadi and R. Rashidi Volume 65 · Number 2 · 2013 · 100 –107

Figure 2 Non-circular three-lobe bearing geometry

vx jy¼h ¼ vz jy¼h ¼ wx jy¼h ¼ wz jy¼h ¼ 0 ð7Þ
STEADY STATE
JOURNAL POSITION Y By solving equations (5a)-(5d) with the above boundary
Wy conditions, the velocity components can be obtained.
q21 Substitution of the velocity components in the equation
LOBE 1 governing the conservation of mass (equation (3)), and
integrating across the film, results in the so-called generalized
LOBE 2
form of the Reynolds equation for micropolar fluids, given
w below (Wang and Zhu, 2006):



q12 › cðN; L; hÞ ›P › cðN; L; hÞ ›P ›h
q22 þ ¼ 6U
›x m ›x ›z m ›z ›x
O X ð8Þ
Oj (Xj,Yj)  
Wx 2 Nh
3 2
cðN; L; hÞ ¼ h þ 12L h 2 6NLh coth
2L
q11
q31 where:
w    1=2
ca þ cd 1=2 mr
LOBE 3 q32 L¼ ; N¼ ð9Þ
4m m þ mr
f In equation (8), h is the film thickness in the clearance space
of the ith lobe, with the journal in a state of steady-state and is
2.1 Modified Reynolds equation expressed as (Malik et al., 1981):
Neglecting the body forces and body couples, the general  
1  
form of the governing equation for the steady-state motion of h i ¼ 2 X  j cos u 2 Y j sin u þ 1 2 1 cos u 2 ui0 ð10Þ
d d
an incompressible micropolar fluid with the usual lubrication
assumptions can be written as (Wang and Zhu, 2006): (X j ; Y j ) are the steady-state journal center coordinates and u0 is
27p þ ðl0 þ m þ mr Þ7ð7· v~ Þ þ ðm þ mr Þ7~v þ 2mr ð7 £ wÞ
~ ¼ 0 ð1Þ the angle of lobe line of centers. d is the preload in the bearing, the
ratio between minor clearance when journal and bearing
~ þ ðcd þ ca ÞDw
ðco þ cd 2 ca Þ7ð7· wÞ ~ þ 2mr ð7 £ v~ 2 2wÞ
~ ¼0 ð2Þ geometric centers are coincident to conventional radial clearance.
Parameter N is called the coupling number for it characterizes
7 · ðrv~ Þ ¼ 0 ð3Þ the coupling of the linear and angular momentum equations
and is dimensionless. From thermodynamic point of view,
which are the equations of conservation of linear momentum, it can be shown that 0 # N # 1 (Eringen, 1966). Large N
conservation of angular momentum and conservation of means the individuality of the substructure becomes significant.
mass, respectively. In these equations v~ is the velocity vector
The parameter L represents the interaction between the
and w ~ is the microrotational velocity vector, p is the pressure
micropolar fluid and the film gap and is called the characteristic
and r is the mass density. m and l0 are dynamic Newtonian
length. As L approaches zero the effect of microstructure
viscosity and the second viscosity coefficient, respectively,
becomes less important. When it vanishes, equation (8)
while mr represents the dynamic microrotation viscosity. co, ca
reduces to the classical form of the Reynolds equation for a
and cd are the coefficients of angular velocity. Components of
Newtonian fluid.
v~ and w
~ can be written as:
Introducing the following dimensionless quantities:
v~ ¼ ðvx ; 0; vz Þ w
~ ¼ ðwx ; 0; wz Þ ð4Þ
C x h z PC 2m
Neglecting the curvature of the fluid film, as the height of the lm ¼ ; u¼ ; h ¼ ; z ¼ ; P ¼ ð11Þ
L R Cm L mUR
fluid film is very small compared to the bearing radius, then
equations (2) and (3) are reduced to: Equation (8) can be written in non-dimensional form as:

 ›P  R2 ›
C ðN; L; hÞ
 ›P 
›2 vx ›wz ›p › C ðN; L; hÞ ›h
ðm þ m r Þ þ 2mr 2 ¼0 ð5aÞ þ ¼6
›y2 ›y ›x ›u m ›u L ›z m ›z ›u
  ð12Þ
 2 
›2 vz ›wx ›p  ¼ h 3 þ 12h 2 6N h coth N hl m
C ðN; L; hÞ
ðm þ m r Þ 2 2mr 2 ¼0 ð5bÞ l 2m lm 2
›y2 ›y ›z

›2 wx ›vz The pressure boundary conditions in dimensionless form are:

ðca þ cd Þ þ 2mr 2 4mr wx ¼ 0 ð5cÞ
›y2 ›y     d P  i 
 u; ^lÞ ¼ 0
P ui1 ; z ¼ 0 Pð P ui2 ; z ¼ u ; z ¼ 0 ð13Þ
›2 wz ›vx du 2
ðca þ cd Þ 2 2mr 2 4mr wz ¼ 0 ð5dÞ
›y2 ›y where ui1 and ui2 are, respectively, the leading edge boundary
and the location of the starting of cavitation zone for the ith
The boundary conditions at bearing and journal surfaces are:
lobe. By setting all negative pressures equal to zero, the
vx jy¼0 ¼ U ; vz jy¼0 ¼ wx jy¼0 ¼ wz jy¼0 ¼ 0 ð6Þ Reynolds cavitation conditions are established.

102
 Behavior of micropolar lubricated lobe bearings Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
M. Nekoeimehr, A.D. Rahmatabadi and R. Rashidi Volume 65 · Number 2 · 2013 · 100 –107

2.2 Solution of steady-state pressure equation 3. Performance characteristics

The Reynolds equation for micropolar fluids, equation (12),
is solved using finite element technique. For this purpose, the 3.1 Load capacity and attitude angle
flow field in the clearance space of each lobe of the bearing The components of the micropolar fluid film force on the
is descretized into four-noded isoparametric elements, with journal are given by:
48 elements in circumferential direction and 24 elements in 2 3 2 i3 " #
Wx XL Wx XL Z l Z ui2 cos u
the axial direction. 4 5¼ 4 i 5¼2 
y Pi d ud z ð21Þ
The pressure at a point in the element can be expressed as: W Wy 2l ui sin u
i¼1 i¼1 1

nX
e ¼4

P e ¼ N em P m ð14Þ where L stands for the number of lobes. The load capacity
m¼1 and attitude angle are then as:
 1=2
where P m are the nodal values of pressure, ne are the number W ¼ W  2x þ W
 2y ð22Þ
of nodes in an element and N em is the shape function.
Substituting equation (14) into equation (12) and applying    
Galerkin’s technique, the following equation is obtained: Xj x
W
f0 ¼ arctan ¼ arctan ð23Þ
Y j y
W
ðð "  2 e # !
›N ek  ›N em R ›N k  ›N em
C þ C d ud z
Ae ›u ›u L ›z ›z
Z
 3.2 Coefficient of friction
›P e ð15Þ The non-dimensional friction force is given by Das et al.
£ P m 2 N ek C d z
Se ›u (2002):
Z  2
 ðð
R ›P e ›N ek l Z
X l Z ui2 Z l Z u1iþ1 h ui
2 N ek C du 2 6h d ud z ¼ 0
Se L ›z Ae ›u F f ¼ Ad ud z þ A  2 d ud z ð24Þ
i¼1 2l ui1 2l ui2 h
This equation may be expressed in matrix form as:
where:
e e }n £1 ¼ {H }n £1
½F
ne £ne {P }ne £1 þ {Q e e ð16Þ h d p 1
e e
A¼ · þ  
2 d u h 2 2N Nl m h
 e}
The expression for the components of the matrices [F e], {Q l m tanh 2
 e } are:
and {H
Consequently, the friction coefficient is:
ðð "  2 e #  
›N ek ›N em R ›N k ›N em R F f
F ekm ¼ C þ d ud z ð17Þ f ¼  ð25Þ
›u ›u L ›z ›z C W
Ae

Z Z  2
›P e R ›P e 3.3 Side leakage flow
Qek ¼ 2 C N ek d z 2 C N ek du ð18Þ The side leakage flow for a journal bearing is given by Wang
Se ›u Se L ›u
and Zhu (2004) as:
ðð
›N ek Xl Z ui2
H ek ¼ 6h d ud z ð19Þ  ¼ ›p
›u Q cðN; L; hÞ jz ¼^l d u ð26Þ
Ae
i¼1
i
u1 ›z

Sequential development of equation (16) for each element of

the flow field and its global assemblage, results in the global
equations:
½F
n£n {P}  n£1 ¼ {H}
 n£1 þ {Q}  n£1
where n is the total number of nodes in the descretized flow
field. Equation (20) involve two nodal variables, the pressure
 and flow (Q).
( P)  While the pressure condition at
the boundaries is zero, however flow is unknown at the
boundaries. As there is no source or sink in the interior
region, hence net flow is zero at each internal node where
pressure is unknown. Thus, at any node either the pressure or
the flow is known making it possible to solve equation (20),
after incorporating the nodal condition, as linear
simultaneous for the remaining unknowns of the problem.
With the steady-state film pressure field known, the steady-
state performance parameters of lobe journal bearings can be
obtained.
4. Results and discussion
Number of lobes and their preload are the geometric
ð20Þ parameters of the multi-lobe journal bearings which can
influence the performance of such bearings. The preload is
defined as the measure of the eccentricity of the lobe center
from the geometric center of the bearing and determines the
non-circularity or ellipticity of a lobe bearing in relative to a
plane journal bearing. In the present study for zero preload,
the journal touches the lobes at their line of centers while
with unit preload a lobe bearing reduces into an axial groove
plane journal bearing. Thus, taking the preload equal to 1, the
lobe bearing will act as a circular bearing with axial grooves. In
the present study the number of lobes of bearings are two,
three and four, while the preload value varies between 0 and 1.0.
In case of micropolar fluid lubrication, to distinguish them
from Newtonian one, two non-dimensional parameters N and
lm are used. The first parameter is the coupling number (N),

103
 Behavior of micropolar lubricated lobe bearings Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
M. Nekoeimehr, A.D. Rahmatabadi and R. Rashidi Volume 65 · Number 2 · 2013 · 100 –107

which characterizes the coupling of the linear and angular Figure 4 Variation of load carrying capacity with eccentricity ratio for
momentum equations oriented from the microrotation of the various values of preload
suspended particles in the fluid. The second non-dimensional
parameter is the characteristic length (lm). It describes the 8
interaction between the bearing geometry and the fluid.
Results presented in this study are for micropolar fluids with Preload = 0.2
7 0.4
N2 ¼ 0.5 and lm ¼ 9. The effect of lubricant supply grooves is 0.6
disregarded. It is assumed that the leading boundary ui1 of any 6 0.8
lobe begins from its junction with the preceding lobe as shown
in Figure 2. 5
To check the accuracy of the developed numerical model,

W
the variation of load capacity as a function of eccentricity ratio 4
obtained for a circular bearing lubricated with Newtonian as
well as micropolar lubricants are compared with the published 3
results of Khonsari and Brewe (1989) in Figure 3. It is seen
2
that the present numerical results obtained are in good
agreement with the published results. 1
Figure 4 shows the variation of the load carrying capacity
 of the different lobe bearings as the function of the
(W) 0
eccentricity (1) ratio for different values of the preload 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
factor (d). The results show the usual trend of increase in W  e
as the 1 of the bearings increases. These results also indicate (a) two-lobe
the dependence of W  of the lobe bearings on their preload 10
factor(d). As the preload factor of the bearings increases
9 Preload = 0.2
(d ! 1), i.e. configuration of bearings becomes nearer to 0.4
circular one and so having lesser non-circularity, there is 8 0.6
increase in their load carrying capacity. From the above results 0.8
it is further seen that the rate of the effect of d on W  is 7
influenced by the number of lobes of the bearings. The 6
bearings having comparatively lesser number of lobes (being
5
W

comparatively far from circularity), are affected by a higher rate

for higher values of preload factor, it is while this effect is 4
reversed when the number of the lobes are increased as it
can be seen in case of two- and four-lobe bearings, respectively. 3
Finally, from the results, it can be concluded that on 2
the whole the load carrying capacity of the two-lobe bearings
are more affected by the preload factor comparatively. 1
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Figure 3 Variation of load carrying capacity with eccentricity ratio for e
circular journal bearing lubricated with Newtonian and micropolar fluid (b) three-lobe
35 10

9 Preload = 0.2
30 0.4
N^2 = 0.5, lm = 9, Present work
8 0.6
N^2 = 0.5, lm = 9, Khonsari and Brewe, 1989 0.8
Newtonian, Present work 7
25
Newtonian, Khonsari and Brewe, 1989
6
20 5
W
W

4
15
3

10 2

1
5
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
e
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 (c) four-lobe
e Notes: N2 = 0.5; Im = 9

104
 Behavior of micropolar lubricated lobe bearings Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
M. Nekoeimehr, A.D. Rahmatabadi and R. Rashidi Volume 65 · Number 2 · 2013 · 100 –107

Figure 5 shows the results for the variation of the attitude Figure 5 Variation of attitude angle with eccentricity ratio for various
angle (f) as the function of the eccentricity (1) ratio for values of preload
different values of the preload factor (d). The results indicate
the pronounced influence of the number of the lobes in a 120
bearing on the effect of the preload factor on the attitude Preload = 0.2
0.4
angle. As the number of lobes of the bearings is increased, 0.6
the trend as well as the rate of the effect of the preload on the 100 0.8
variation of f with 1 is varied. It is seen that the four-lobe
configuration which is nearer to circular configuration, is 80
more affected by the preload factor. Also the results show that
for low values of the 1 all the bearings with lesser preload
factor operate at lower f, i.e. as d ! 0 and as the result non-

f
60
circularity of the bearings increases, there is decrease in
attitude angle of the bearings. This effect of non-circularity of
40
the bearings, i.e. operating at lower attitude angle in
comparison to circular bearings, is one of the main
advantages of non-circular lobe bearings. The smaller the 20
attitude angles, i.e. the closer the load line and journal-to-
bearing line of centers, the better the stability of the journal
bearing system occurs (Chandra et al., 1983). From the 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
results it is observed that at low eccentricities, the three-lobe e
bearings as compared to other bearings, operate at lower
(a) two-lobe
attitude angles, close to those of the four-lobe bearings. With 100
the increase of eccentricity, then the four-lobe bearings have
comparatively smaller attitude angles. Preload = 0.2
0.4
The effect of preload factor on coefficient of friction ( f) as the 0.6
80
function of 1 is shown in Figure 6. It is seen that the rate of 0.8
the effect of preload factor on f in this case also is dependent on the
number of lobes of the bearings. The effect is more pronounced
for bearings having comparatively lesser number of lobes. The 60
results show that for low 1 values, three-lobe bearings have lesser
f

f than the other bearings, though its difference with the values
for four-lobe bearing is marginal. Then as the 1 increases, the 40
four-lobe bearings will have lesser f compared with other bearings
and so having better performance from this performance
characteristic point of view. 20
Figure 7 shows the variation of side leakage flow (Q)  as the
function of 1 for different preload factor (d). The results show
that except for high values of d , which the variations of Q  with 0
the increase of 1 are marginal, there is increase in Q  with 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
increasing 1, particularly with pronounced rate at higher e
values of 1 as the number of lobes are increased. Also it is (b) three-lobe
observed that at low 1, bearings with smaller d have more side 100
leakage flow. This trend is followed through out for two-lobe
bearings, however as the number of lobes as well as the 1 of Preload = 0.2
the bearings are increased, the rates of the effect for different 0.4
80
preload factor come nearer to each other. The results further 0.6
0.8
demonstrate the higher side leakage flow of the two-lobe
bearings compared to other bearing configurations.
60

5. Conclusions
f

In the present work, influence of the number of lobes and also the 40
effect of non-circularity parameter (d) on the static performance
characteristics of two-, three- and four-lobe journal bearings,
lubricated with micropolar fluids, are investigated. From the 20
results, the following conclusions can be drawn:
.
The effect of the non-circularity parameter, on the
performance of lobe bearings, is much influenced by the 0
number of lobes of the bearings, and different lobe bearings 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
are not affected by the same rate and trend. e
.
While the non-circularity parameter can has favorable effects (c) four-lobe
on some of the performance characteristics parameters of Notes: N2 = 0.5; Im = 9

105
 Behavior of micropolar lubricated lobe bearings Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
M. Nekoeimehr, A.D. Rahmatabadi and R. Rashidi Volume 65 · Number 2 · 2013 · 100 –107

Figure 6 Variation of coefficient of friction with eccentricity ratio for Figure 7 Variation of side leakage flow with eccentricity ratio for
various values of preload various values of preload
160
120
Preload = 0.2 140
100 0.4
0.6 120 Preload = 0.2
0.8 0.4
0.6
80 100 0.8

Q
80
f

60
60
40
40
20
20

0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
e e
(a) two-lobe (a) two-lobe

80 80

70 Preload = 0.2 70
0.4
0.6 Preload = 0.2
60 0.8 60 0.4
0.6
50 50 0.8

40
f

40

30
30
20
20
10
10
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0
e 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
(b) three-lobe e
(b) three-lobe
80
50
70 Preload = 0.2
0.4
0.6
60 0.8 40

50
30
40
f

30
20
20
Preload = 0.2
10 10 0.4
0.6
0.8
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
e 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
(c) four-lobe e
Notes: N2 = 0.5; Im = 9 (c) four-lobe
Notes: N2 = 0.5; Im = 9

106
 Behavior of micropolar lubricated lobe bearings
M. Nekoeimehr, A.D. Rahmatabadi and R. Rashidi
the lobe bearings, however, it can adversely affect some
of the other performance characteristic parameters.
.
The non-circularity parameter as well as the number of
lobes of the bearings, as the design parameters, must be
chosen correctly to suit the requirements of a specific
application.
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Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
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Corresponding author
A.D. Rahmatabadi can be contacted at:
dashti@yazduni.ac.ir