Thermal Effects in Externally Pressurized Conical Bearings With Variable Viscosity

The influence of varying slider temperature on the characteristics of a conical bearing with constant film thickness rotating with a uniform angular velocity is examined. The fluid is considered to be incompressible and the viscosity is assumed to vary exponentially with temperature. The governing system of coupled partial differential equations in conical coordinates is solved numerically using finite difference method to yield the various bearing characteristics. The results show that maintaining the slider at temperature lower than that of the pad causes an increase in the load capacity of the bearing.