Lubrication and

journal bearings
Types of lubrication in general:
Largely exaggerated
• Hydrodynamic (thick film, requires motion) asperities between
• Hydrostatic (high pressure) surfaces

• Elastohydrodynamic (rolling element bearing)

• Boundary
• Solid-film

Journal bearing composed of:

• Shaft (journal)
• Bushing
• Sump (lubricant)
• Housing

1
Juvinall and Marshek
 Viscosity

Shigley, Fig. 12-1

F du
    : Newton's viscous law
A dy
U
If constant shear (strain) rate,   
h
 : shear stress in fluid
 : viscosity (lbf.s/in 2  reyn or Pa.s)
U : velocity
2
h : film thickness
 Viscosity

Juvinall and Marshek

3
 Petroff’s equation for
bearing friction
1) For a cylinder in rotation,
U 2 Rn
  
h c
2) Applied torque:  AR   2 R 2 L

Frictional torque: fWR
 2 RL 
3) Therefore: f   ,
W P
n R
or f  2 2
P c
R
or f  2 2 S
c Juvinall and Marshek

f : friction coefficient
W : radial load
P : load per unit of projected area
W
P
2 RL
n : angular velocity (rev/s)
c : radial clearance
 R  n
2

S   : Sommerfeld number 4
c P
 Stable lubrication

Juvinall and Marshek

Thin film: unstable
A decrease in viscosity will lead to
- an increase in friction
- then to an increase in temperature
- then to a decrease in viscosity
- etc…

Thick film: stable by self-correction

If one characteristic changes, the others will
compensate for it:
e.g. if the temperature rises, the viscosity goes down,
then μN/P goes down, and so does f, therefore, the
temperature goes down

Point A: last stage of metal to metal contact

5
 Thick film lubrication:
hydrodynamic

W W

W W

Shigley, Fig. 12-5

Without lubrication: the shaft climbs the wall

With lubrication: the bearing acts like a pump

• Raises the journal
• The journal moves to the opposite side of the rolling
motion
• Hydrodynamic effect
6
 Thick film lubrication:
hydrodynamic

Rb  R j  e  h0
c  Rb  R j
e Rb  R j  h0
 
c Rb  R j
R h0
 0   1
c
h0
1   0
c

Shigley, Fig. 12-6

h0 : minimum film thickness

c : clearance if centered (difference in radii)
e : distance between journal (O) and bearing (O ') centres
  e / c : eccentricity 7
 : angular length of partial bearing
 Pressure distribution in
hydrodynamic lubrication
Juvinall and Marshek

Influences choice of
journal material

R   R  n 
2

Refinement of f       S
c 
  c  P 
Petroff’s equation: 8
 : 'fudge factor'
Bearing design considerations

• Controlled variables:
Viscosity 
Bearing load P
Speed n
Bearing dimensions
• Dependent variables:
Friction coefficient f
Temperature rise
Flow of oil
Minimum film thickness h0
These variables determine bearing
performance and must stay in proper range.
The bearing reacts to loading by changing
eccentricity, reducing h0.

9
Dimensionless parameters
h0
: minimum film thickness to clearance ratio
c
R
f : coefficient of friction variable
c
P
: minimum film pressure ratio
pmax
 : position of minimum film thickness
 p : terminating position of film
0

 p : location of pmax
max

Q
: flow variable
RcnL
QS
: side flow to total flow ratio
Q

Juvinall and Marshek

10
 Raimondi-Boyd analysis
Example:
Known:
• μ =4 μreyn
• n =30 rev/s
• W =500 lbf
• R = 0.75 in
• c = 0.0015 in
• L = 1.5 in
Preliminaries:
• P = W/2RL = 222 psi
 R  n
2

• S = 0.135 S  
c P
• L/D = 1

Use S and L/D in the

following graphs to
11
identify unknowns
h0

c 

Juvinall and Marshek

h0/c = 0.42,   0.58,

thus h0= 0.42(0.0015) = 0.00063 in
and e = 0.58(0.0015) = 0.00087 in

12
 Juvinall and Marshek

fR/c = 3.5,
thus f = 3.5c/R = 0.007.
Friction torque T = fWR = 2.61in.lbf

13
 Juvinall and Marshek

P / pmax = 0.42,
thus pmax = 529 psi

14
Juvinall and Marshek

  52o

15
 Juvinall and Marshek

pmax
 18.5o
 p  75o
0

16
 Juvinall and Marshek

Lubricant flow Q/(RcnL) = 4.28,

thus Q = 0.216 in3/s 17
 Juvinall and Marshek

Flow ratio QS / Q = 0.655,

thus QS = 0.142 in3/s

18
Lubricant temperature rise

Overheating causes
adverse effects
Is the lubricant
proper for the
application?
Thermodynamics…

Q : volumetric oil flow rate into bearing, in 3 /s

QS : volumetric side flow rate out of bearing
Ti : oil inlet (sump) temperature
T : temperature rise in oil between inlet and outlet
.
QL or H loss : heat loss rate, W, or hp or Btu/s
19
Shigley, Fig. 12-23
Lubricant temperature rise

Enthalpy balance:
The rate of work done
by the journal and the
film
Equals
The rate at which heat
is transferred to
surroundings
i.e.
R
f
9.70TF c

Ppsi  1 QS   Q 
1  2 Q   RcnL 
  

Use S and L/D in next

Shigley, Fig. 12-23
figure 20
 Lubricant temperature rise

Shigley, Fig. 12-24

21
 Heat dissipation in
self-contained bearings
Time rate of heat generated = Friction power loss
H gen  Tn  fWRn
Time rate of heat loss to environment = CA(to  ta )
H loss = CA(to  ta ) where
C : heat transfer coefficient
A : exposed housing surface area
to : average oil film temperature
ta : ambient air temperature

Of course, we need H gen  H loss ...

Juvinall and Marshek

22
 Clearance: design tips
• Optimize clearance based on performance of
bearing, using specific oil grade and other
pre-design quantities (P, n, R…)
• Most catalogues will have such info

Juvinall and Marshek

23
 Clearances and tolerances
• Tolerances (MCG 2101) will affect clearance

• Manufacturing is important

• A greater clearance is safe

• i.e. smaller shaft or bigger bushing

0 b
D ,B
d 0

Shaft (journal) Bearing (bushing) housing

24
 Clearances and tolerances
Set tolerances based on min and max clearances:
• Set cmin and cmax Journal diameter Bearing diameter
• Mark D/2 0 b
• Set d and calculate b D ,B d 0

B  D  2cmin
BD
cmin 
2
BD bd
cmax  
2 2

Resulting assembly
will fall within
shaded area

25
 Material selection
Bearing material selected based on:
• Load
• Environment (temperature, PV, corrosion, etc…)

Juvinall and Marshek

26
 Other considerations

Oil grooves, lubrication approach

Less is more!
Simple device to circulate oil: a ring that dips
into the oil and “pumps” it. 27