Comparative Analysis of Static Characteristics

Between the Five-Pad Tilting-Pad

and the Five-Lobe Journal Bearings

Kai Wang1,2,3 and Lihua Yang1,2,3(B)

1 State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, Xi’an Jiaotong
University, Xi’an 710049, Shaanxi, China
2 Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environment and Control for Flight Vehicle, Xi’an Jiaotong
University, Xi’an 710049, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
3 School of Aerospace Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, Shaanxi, People’s

Republic of China

Abstract. As key mechanical components, hydrodynamic sliding bearings

widely used in rotating machinery can significantly affect the running state, reli-
ability, and life of the rotor system. Bearing static characteristics are required for
the determination of the dynamic characteristics. In the present study, the static
characteristics of the five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing and the five-lobe journal
bearing have been comparatively analyzed.The main difference be-tween these
two kinds of bearings is that the pads of the former can tilt freely around their
pivots.The numerical results indicate that the former owes the excellent stability
due to pads tilting freely around the pivot in comparison with the latter. Further
research shows that the characteristics of the tilting-pad journal bearing can be
improved by increasing the preload factor and length-to-diameter ratio, which has
a certain practical significance for the application of tilting-pad journal bearings.

Keywords: Comparative analysis · Five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing ·

Five-lobe journal bearing · Static characteristics

1 Introduction
As key mechanical components, hydrodynamic sliding bearings are universally used
in a wide range of heavy-load rotating machinery. Generally, the characteristics of the
oil film in the bearing exert a fundamental influence upon the vibration and stability of
rotors. Moreover, these static characteristics are also required for the determination of
the dynamic characteristics [1]. Comparing the characteristics of the two specific bearing
structures can determine bearing type selection and improve the reliability of rotating
machinery, which has a certain practical significance for the stability of the rotor system.
Some studies have been reported about the static characteristics of journal bearings.
Khan et al. [2] used the finite difference method to solve the modified Reynolds equation
obtained by using the micropolar lubrication theory and analyzed the static characteristics
for instance load capacity, attitude angle, friction force of the plain journal bearing.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022
X. Jing et al. (Eds.): ICANDVC 2021, LNEE 799, pp. 643–652, 2022.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5912-6_47
644 K. Wang and L. Yang

Sharma and Singh [3, 4] studied the static characteristics of the two-lobe journal bearing
for different length-to-diameter (L/D) ratios and found that the stability of the bearing
increases with the decrease of L/D ratio. Das et al. [5] analyzed the stability of journal
bearings in terms of micropolar fluid for varying eccentricity ratios and L/D ratios and
proved that micropolar fluid presents better stability compared to the Newtonian fluid.
Rahmatabadi and Rashidi [6] investigated the influence of preload factor on the static
characteristics of multi-lobe fixed profile journal bearings, and the result showed that
preload has a remarkable effect on bearing performance. Sensitivity analysis of static
characteristics of tilting-pad journal bearing was conducted by Lou [7] to analyze and
evaluate for pad internal radius, shaft radius, pivot radius, pivot position, and pad angular
extent. Jeung [8] established a numerical analysis model to study the static characteristics
of tilting pad journal bearings with the same sommerfeld number. Phuoc and Chatterton
[9] established a thermo-elasto-hydrodynamic model to study the static characteristic
of a five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing with load-between-pad (LBP) and load-on-pad
(LOP) arrangements under varying rotational speed and direction of applied static load.
The results illustrated that the influence of the above factors on the static characteristics
of the bearing can not be ignored [10].
The above studies only analyzed the static performance of the single bearing itself
and did not carry on comparative analysis between two different types of bearings. In the
present study, the static characteristics of the five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing and the
five-lobe journal bearing have been comparatively analyzed to determine which bearing
has better performance.

2 Mathematics for Incompressible and Isothermal Oil-Lubricated

Journal Bearings
2.1 Analysis of the Steady Reynolds Equation
The oil film characteristics of hydrodynamic sliding bearings reflect the corresponding
changes of oil film force when the journal deviates from the equilibrium position (ε0 ,
θ 0 ) and makes displacement around the equilibrium position. For incompressible and
isothermal fluid lubrication, the general form of the Reynolds equation in dimensionless
form is written as follow:
   2  
∂ ∂P D ∂ ∂P ∂H ∂H
H3 + H3 =3 +6 (1)
∂ϕ ∂ϕ L ∂λ ∂λ ∂ϕ ∂T
where ϕ = x/R and λ = z/(L/2) is dimensionless circumferential and axial coordinate
respectively, D and L is the bearing diameter and length respectively, H = h/c is dimen-
sionless oil film thickness, P = p/pa is dimensionless fluid film pressure, pa is ambient
pressure, T = Ωt is dimensionless timeand Ω is journal rotating speed.
For steady running, the corresponding Reynolds equation is:
   2  
∂ 3 ∂P D ∂ 3 ∂P ∂H
H + H =3 (2)
∂ϕ ∂ϕ L ∂λ ∂λ ∂ϕ
 Comparative Analysis of Static Characteristics 645

2.2 FilmThickness Without Journal Perturbation

This research focuses on the static characteristic of the five-lobe journal bearing and the
five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing. The main difference between these two kinds of
bearings is that the pads of the latter can tilt freely around their pivots. The schematic
structure is presented in Fig. 1. The bearing centre O and the journal centre O’ are defined
on axesXandY. The distance e = OO’ is called the eccentricity, and the ratio of etoC b is
called the eccentricity ratioε. Fis the load capacity of journal bearing, Ris the bearing
radius, andc is the bearing clearance.

Fig. 1. Model and coordinates of journal bearings

The bearing oil film thickness H is directly determined by the position of the journal
quasi-equilibrium position (ε0 , θ 0 ). The film thickness in dimensionless form between
the surface of the pad and journal is defined as:
⎧
⎨ 1 + ε0 cos(ϕ − θ0 ) − mp cos(β − ϕ) + δ sin(β − ϕ) TPJB
H= ψ (3)
⎩
1 + ε0 cos(ϕ − θ0 ) − mp cos(β − ϕ) Five - lobe bearing

where mp = (1-C b /C p ) is the preload factor, β is the pivot position angle, δ is

dimensionless tilting angle, and ψ = C p /R is clearance ratio.

2.3 Dimensionless Finite Element Model

Here, the finite difference method is applied to solve the fluid lubricated Reynolds Eq. (2).
The rectangular element is adopted to discrete the five pads of the bearing, and taking
the dimensionless finite difference model of pad 3 as an example is presented in Fig. 2.
646 K. Wang and L. Yang

Fig. 2. Dimensionless finite element model of the bearing pad

For the first derivative of the node (i, j), it can be approximately expressed by the
mean difference quotient formed by the pressure and oil film thickness of its adjacent
nodes:
     
∂P Pi+1,j − Pi−1,j ∂P Pi,j−1 − Pi,j+1 ∂H Hi+1,j − Hi−1,j
≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ (4)
∂ϕ i,j 2ϕ ∂λ i,j 2λ ∂ϕ i,j 2ϕ

The pressure on the intermediate node (i, j) can be calculated according to the pressure
on its upper (i, j-1), lower (i, j + 1), left (i-1, j), and right (i + 1, j). Substitution of Eq. (4)
into Eq. (2), the pressure distribution can be obtained:
   
H3 Pi+1,j + H 3 P + D ϕ H 3 P + P

− 3ϕ H − H
i+ 21 ,j i− 21 ,j
i−1,j L λ i,j i,j+1 i,j−1 1
i+ 2 ,j 1
i− 2 ,j
Pi,j =   (5)
3 3 D ϕ 3
H 1 + H 1 + 2 L λ Hi,j
i+ 2 ,j i− 2 ,j

The boundary conditions for the five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing and the five-lobe
journal bearing are the same as the ones appropriate for general sliding bearings. The
dimensionless static pressure P at the ends in the circumferential and axial directions is
equal to zero, hence the bearing boundary condition for Eq. (2) is given by:
⎧
⎪ P(ϕ = ϕs , λ) = 0
⎪
⎪
⎨ P(ϕ = ϕ , λ) = 0
e
(6)
⎪
⎪ P(ϕ, λ = −1) = 0
⎪
⎩
P(ϕ, λ = 1) = 0
where ϕ s and ϕ e is the start angle and end angle of the pad, respectively.
Furthermore, for the five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing, the oil film pressure distri-
bution between the kth pad and the journal surface should meet the pad moment balance
condition:
 1  ϕe
Mk = Pk sin(β − ϕ)dϕdλ = 0 (7)
−1 ϕs
 Comparative Analysis of Static Characteristics 647

By iteratively solving Eq. (2), the oil film pressure distribution of the pad can be
obtained, and then the pressure is integrated to calculate the load capacity, friction
coefficient, and other performance of bearings.

2.4 Calculation of Static Characteristics of Journal Bearing

The total oil film forces in x and y directions can be expressed as:
⎧ 5  1  ϕe
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ Fx = − Pk sin ϕdϕdλ
⎪
⎨
k=1 −1 ϕs
(8)
⎪
⎪ 5 
1  ϕe
⎪
⎪
⎩ Fy = −
⎪ Pk cos ϕdϕdλ
k=1 −1 ϕs

where Pk is the oil film pressure distribution of the kth pad.

The total load capacity in dimensionless form F is defined as follows:

F = Fx2 + Fy2 (9)

The total frictional resistance in dimensionless form can be written in the following
form:
   
1
5 ϕe
1 1 ∂Pk
f = − Hk dϕdλ (10)
2 Hk ∂ϕ
k=1 −1 ϕs

The friction coefficient in dimensionless form can be obtained by Eq. (8) and Eq. (9):
f
υ= (11)
F
The lubricant flux in dimensionless form can be calculated by:
 1  
1 1 1 ∂P
Q= Hϕs − Hϕs dλ (12)
8 −1 3 −1 ∂ϕs

3 Numerical Results Analysis

The static characteristic of two kinds of journal bearings shown in Fig. 1 is calculated by
using the finite difference model in this study. The computational flow chart of bearing
static performance is illustrated in Fig. 3.
The structure and operating parameters related to the bearing is provided in the
Table 1.
The static characteristic was validated by comparison with Zhang’s results [11] for
the five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing atL/D ratio 0.6 and preload factor 0. The results
are shown in Fig. 4. It can be found that the results of this paper are well in agreement
648 K. Wang and L. Yang

Fig. 3. The computational flow chart of tilting-pad journal bearing static performance

Table 1. Parameters and operating parameters related to the bearing

Parameter Value
Lubricant ISO VG22
Preload factor mp 0
Pivot coefficient 0.5
Pad arc angle ζ 60°
Pad length L 0.06 m
Shaft diameter D 0.1 m
Machined clearance C p 0.002 m
Assembled clearance C b 0.002 m
Journal rotating speed Ω 8930 r/min
Viscosity of ambient medium μa 0.018 pa·s

with those of Zhang, which fully proves that the calculation of this study in dealing with
the static characteristicsof journal bearings is correct.
 Comparative Analysis of Static Characteristics 649

Fig. 4. Validation of the numerical simulation on bearing static characteristic (L/D = 0.6, mp =
0)

Fig. 5. Comparison of bearing static characteristics (L/D = 0.3, mp = 0)

The numerical simulation of static characteristics between the five-pad tilting-pad

journal bearing and the five-lobe journal bearing have been conducted to investigate
the stability performance and upholding ability. Figure 5 shows the comparison static
characteristics between the five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing and the five-lobe journal
bearing for the situation L/D = 0.3, mp = 0.
650 K. Wang and L. Yang

It can be observed from Fig. 5(a) that with the increase of eccentricity ratio ε,
the dimensionless load capacity F of the five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing increases
sharply especially ε higher than 0.6. However, the load capacity F of the five-lobe journal
bearing increases gently. Moreover, it is apparent from Fig. 5(b) that with the increase of
eccentricity ratio ε, the journal attitude angle θ 0 of the five-lobe journal bearing decreases
gradually from 55° to 35°, however, the θ 0 of the five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing
always remains zero.
Thus the analysis results indicate that the five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing owes
the high load capacity and excellent stability compared with the five-lobe journal bearing.
Thus, the tilting-pad journal bearing can be universally used in a wide range of rotating
machinery. Therefore, the tilting-pad journal bearing characteristic has a significant
impact on the reliability of mechanical systems.

Fig. 6. Effect of eccentricity ratio and preload factor on bearing static performance (L/D = 0.6)

The theoretical studies of the five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing at the different
preload factor mp and L/D ratio are investigated as shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7. It can
be seen from Fig. 6(a) and Fig. 7(a) that the dimensionless load capacity F grows with
eccentricity ratio ε increases. However, especially for the eccentricity ratio ε higher than
0.7, the dimensionless load capacity F increases sharply with the eccentricity ratio. The
dimensionless load capacity F grows with the preload factor mp for the high eccentricity
ratio situation. However, the L/D ratio of the bearing has little influence on the dimen-
sionless load capacity F of the five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing. From Fig. 6(a) and
Fig. 7(a), we can conclude that the dimensionless load capacity F increases sharply with
 Comparative Analysis of Static Characteristics 651

eccentricity ratio and also slightly grows with the increase of preload factor mp and the
L/D ratio of the bearingespecially for the eccentricity ratio ε higher than 0.7.

Fig. 7. Effect of eccentricity ratio and length-to-diameter ratio on bearing static performance (mp
= 0)

Through Fig. 6(b) and Fig. 7(b), with the increase of eccentricity ratio ε, the dimen-
sionless friction coefficient υ of the bearing decreases sharply especially for eccentricity
ratio ε lower than 0.4, and then gradually reach to zero.The dimensionless friction
coefficient υ decreases with the preload factor mp for the low eccentricity ratio situa-
tion.However, the L/Dratio of the bearing has little influence on the dimensionless friction
coefficient υ of the five-pad tilting-pad journal bearing especially for the situation that
eccentricity ratio is higher than 0.7.
The influence of preload factor mp and the L/D ratio on the oil film flux is presented
in Fig. 6(c) and Fig. 7(c), respectively. It can be obtained that with the increase of
eccentricity ratio ε, the dimensionless flux Q of the bearing decreases gradually over the
entire range of eccentricity ratio ε. With the increase of preload factor mp and L/D ratio,
the dimensionless flux Q of the bearing shows an obvious decreasing trend.
We can analyze from Fig. 6(d) and Fig. 7(d) that although the preload factor mp and
the L/D ratio of the bearing varied, the journal attitude angle θ 0 remains zero, which is
the reason for the good stability and adaptability of the tilting-pad bearing.
652 K. Wang and L. Yang

4 Conclusions
The comparison of two kinds of hydrodynamic sliding bearings on static characteristics
has been investigated. The numerical results show that the five-pad tilting-pad journal
bearing owes the high load capacity and excellent stability due to pads tilting freely
around the pivot in comparison with the five-lobe journal bearing. The load capacity of
the tilting-pad journal bearing can be improved by increasing the preload factor mp and
the L/D ratio, which has a certain practical significance for the application of tilting-pad
journal bearings.

Acknowledgement. This research was funded by the National Science and Technology
Major Project (J2019-IV-0021-0089), the National Science Foundation of China under Grant
No.11872288, the Shaanxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation Under Grant No. 2019JM-219.

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