Exploration on a Fast EHL Computing Technology for Analyzing Journal Bearings with Engineered Surface Textures

Abstract

Solving elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) problems is a complex and time-consuming process due to the interactive solutions of the Reynolds equation and contact elasticity. Analyzing journal bearing EHL problems is even more difficult due to the scale difference in the structural and surface features, which may span four orders of magnitude. This article presents a fast EHL computing technology utilizing a parallel numerical iterative method (the red–black successive overrelaxation method) and multithreaded computing scheme conducted by OpenMP directives. The fast computational approaches allow the construction of high-density EHL meshes for effective descriptions of important texture features of journal bearing surfaces.