Effect of lubricant inertia in bearings with a non-Newtonian lubricant

Summary The inertia effects in externally pressurized and squeeze film bearings with lubricants obeying a power law are considered. It is found that the inertia forces decrease the load capacity of the externally pressurized bearing with a given flow rate and the inertia effect increases with the flow behaviour index. At a given feeding pressure, on the other hand, the inertia increases or decreases the load capacity when the flow behaviour index is smaller than or greater than 3, respectively. For squeeze films between circular plates and rectangular plates, the rate of squeeze is slowed down by the inertia and the inertia effect is larger in dilatant lubricants than in pseudoplastic lubricants.Nomenclature 2a diameter of the bearing, width of rectangular plates - 2b diameter of the recess - 2h film thickness - 2h ₀ initial thickness of squeeze films - l length of the rectangular plates - m consistency index - n flow behaviour index - p pressure - p _e external pressure - p _i feeding pressure - q flow rate - r radial distance - t time - u velocity of the lubricant - v squeeze velocity - w load capacity - W dimensionless load capacity - axial distance - viscosity of the lubricant - density of the lubricant