Static and Dynamic Analysis of Hydrodynamic Four-lobe Journal Bearing with Couple Stress Lubricants

In this work, the static and dynamic performance characteristics of four-lobe bearing operating with couple stress lubricant are presented. The modified Reynolds equation has been solved using the finite difference method. The effects of the couple stress parameter on the key performance of a four-lobe journal bearing such as; the load carrying capacity, the friction force, side leakage, the stiffness and damping, the critical mass and whirl ratio are determined. The computed results show that the presence of couple stresses improves the performance characteristics of a four-lobe bearing compared to that lubricated with Newtonian fluids.