Numerical analysis of the effect of texture on the steady-state characteristics of tilting pad journal bearings

This work aims to study the effect of semi-ellipsoid texture on the bearing load capacity and maximum oil film temperature of tilting pad journal bearings. It has been shown that surface texture can improve the steady-state performance of bearings, but there are few studies on tilting pad journal bearings. A thermal elastohydrodynamic model of tilting pad journal bearings have been developed to support the analysis and solved by the finite difference method. The calculation results of the model are in good agreement with the simulation results of MADYN 2000 software, which proves the validity of the model. The effects of texture distribution, depth, radius, and density on the characteristics of tilting pad journal bearings were studied and compared with those of untextured tilting pad journal bearings. The results show that texture can significantly enhance or weaken the steady-state characteristics of tilting pad journal bearings, which is related to the texture parameters. This work provides a reference for the design of tilting pad journal bearings.