Thermal analysis of dry sleeve bearings — a comparison between analytical, numerical (finite element) and experimental results

Thermal analysis of a plastic sleeve bearing in dry operation was investigated experimentally by Floquet et al. [Trans. ASME, J. Lubr. Technol. 99 (1977) 277]. For a comparison with the experimental results, Kennedy [Trans. ASME, J. Tribol. 103 (1981) 90] developed a numerical approach using the finite element method (FEM) that included the development of finite element equations for the case of a moving body heat conduction. In this investigation, both the experimental results of Floquet [Docteur-Ingenier thesis, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, 1978] and the numerical results of Kennedy were compared with the results of the analytical method developed using the classical heat source method introduced by Jaeger [Proc. Roy. Soc. NSW 76 (1942) 203] and the heat partition principles of Blok [Proc. Inst. Mech. Engrs. 2 (1937) 222], which involves matching of the temperatures on either side of the contact interface. The non-uniform distribution of heat partition (as one body is stationary and the other moving) along the interface is addressed by matching the temperatures at the interface between the stationary and the moving bodies in relative sliding contact using the functional analysis approach originally introduced by Chao and Trigger [Trans. ASME 72 (1955) 1107]. The analytical results are found to be in excellent agreement with both the experimental and the numerical results.