Pressure distribution analysis of elastohydrodynamic journal bearing under grease lubrication

Journal misalignment often exists in grease lubricated journal bearings. Lubricating grease is a non-Newtonian liquid, and the rheological properties of grease make it difficult to analyze the lubrication performance numerically. In this paper, grease lubrication Reynolds equation is introduced based on the Herschel-Bulkley model which accurately describes the rheological properties of grease. The Reynolds equation is solved numerically and the pressure distribution is analyzed. As in some cases pressure in the contact area is extraordinarily high, the elastohydrodynamic lubrication theory is used to calculate the deformation of the contact plane and revise the pressure distribution model.