Steady-State Performance of Wide Parabolic-Shaped Slider Bearings with a Couple Stress Fluid

Abstract

According to the Stokes micro-continuum theory, the effects of couple stresses upon the steady-state performance of wide parabolicshaped slider bearings are presented in this paper. To account for the couple stress effects arising from a Newtonian lubricant blended with various additives, the modified non-Newtonian Reynolds-type equation is derived using the Stokes motion equations together with the continuity equation. Comparing with the traditional Newtonianlubricant case, the effects of couple stresses characterized by the couple stress parameter signify an improvement in the steady-state performance. Increasing values of the couple stress parameter increases the bearing load-carrying capacity and reduces the required volume flow rate and the friction parameter. Compared to the inclined plane bearing, the parabolic-shaped slider lubricated with couple stress fluids results in a higher load-carrying capacity and a smaller required volume flow rate especially for the bearing designed at a larger value of the profile parameter.