Comparison of hydrodynamic characteristics between circumferential and transversal microgrooved journal bearings

Abstract Surface texture has been proved to be an effective method to improve lubrication performance in lubrication contact. However, there exists the controversy about the influence of surface texture on lubrication performance of journal bearings. Moreover, the effect of texture position is not fully understood in current literatures. In the present work, a mass conservation Reynolds equation is employed to investigate the lubrication performance of journal bearings. Bearing characteristics such as the maximum pressure, load‐carrying capacity, friction force, friction coefficient are predicted with elliptical grooves. Two types of microgrooves are comprehensively investigated. The transversal groove in the divergent region (θg = 210° in the case) almost does not influence the lubrication performance. The grooves in the inlet and maximum pressure region provide a potential possibility to improve the lubrication performance of journal bearings. In the cases, full grooves yield negative influence on lubrication performance. In addition, the influence of groove configuration is also investigated under different operating conditions. The dimensionless performance parameters for the microgroove in the maximum pressure region (θg = 120° in the case) are more sensitive to the microgroove configuration.