Effects of Surface Roughness in Squeeze Film Lubrication of Spherical Bearings

This paper describes a theoretical analysis of the effects of surface roughness in squeeze film lubrication of spherical bearings. The analysis is based on a deterministic theory of hydrodynamic lubrication. The important squeeze film parameters are obtained as simple closed form expressions for roughness types. The generalized Reynolds equation accounting for the surface roughness is considered and it is applied to study the effects of roughness in squeeze film lubrication of spherical bearings. In order to get the expression for pressure, the generalized Reynolds equation is solved. Then by making use of this expression we obtain the expression for load carrying capacity, which in turn is used to find the expression for response time. These expressions are numerically computed and the results are presented graphically. From the numerical computations of the results, it is found that, the load capacity and squeezing time increases with an increase of peripheral viscosity of the lubricant. It is observed that in case of transverse roughness pattern the load capacity and squeezing time increases where as it decreases for longitudinal roughness pattern. Also load capacity increases with an increase in squeeze velocity.