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Reynolds Equation in One Dimension

The document summarizes the Reynolds equation for modeling fluid flow in a hydrodynamic bearing. It describes: 1) How the Reynolds equation is derived by balancing forces on a small fluid element between converging surfaces and relating shear stress to velocity gradients. 2) The resulting equation models pressure as a function of flow rate and film thickness. 3) For steady flow, the pressure gradient must be positive where thickness is greatest and negative where it is smallest, following the diagrammed pressure profile.

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Rio Dermawan
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473 views3 pages

Reynolds Equation in One Dimension

The document summarizes the Reynolds equation for modeling fluid flow in a hydrodynamic bearing. It describes: 1) How the Reynolds equation is derived by balancing forces on a small fluid element between converging surfaces and relating shear stress to velocity gradients. 2) The resulting equation models pressure as a function of flow rate and film thickness. 3) For steady flow, the pressure gradient must be positive where thickness is greatest and negative where it is smallest, following the diagrammed pressure profile.

Uploaded by

Rio Dermawan
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Reynolds equation in one dimension

Consider the equilibrium of some small element of the fluid within the gap which has a local thickness h, as shown in Figure 1. The magnitude of h varies in a known way from hi at the entry to the convergent wedge, to ho at the exit. Oxy is a stationary sets of axes in which are observed the motion of the surfaces and that of the oil film. For oil to be drawn into gap it is necessary that U>0.

Figure 1: (a) Essential features of a hydrodynamic bearing. (b) The resulting pressure profile, , is the load per unit length.

By balancing forces on the incremental element (and neglecting the effects of gravity and inertia),

where

is the pressure in the fluid and

the shear stress acting on the faces of the element. Thus (1)

On the basis that the fluid exhibits a constant Newtonian viscosity

throughout the bearing, we can relate

the value of the shear stress to the local velocity gradient in the z-direction, so that (2) where is the local fluid velocity in the x-direction. Substituting into equation (1), we obtain (3) Now since h, the film thickness, is very much smaller than the dimensions of the wedge in the Ox- and Oy-directions, we can reasonably take the pressure words, to be constant across the film thickness; in the other

can be taken as a function of x only, its value is not dependent on the values of either y or z.

Equation (3) becomes (4) This can be integrated twice with respect to z to yield (5) where and are constants.

Apply the boundary conditions that at solid interfaces the fluid velocity is equal to that of solid with which it is in constant: this is the usual no slip boundary assumption of fluid mechanics. Setting and at enables the constants and to be evaluated, and equation (5) becomes (6) at

The velocity distribution within the fluid film is combination of the parabolic distribution (characteristic of pressure-driven Poiseuille flow) represented by the first term of equation (6), and the linear variation in velocity of shear (or Couette flow) represented by the second.

Volumetric flow rate

The volumetric flow rate q through a unit width (in the Oy-direction) of a section of the bearing can be obtained by integration, thus (7) For an incompressible fluid, the volume flow rate q must have the same value at all sections, or values of x, through the bearing gap. Since that the pressure gradient , the film thickness at entry, is greater than , that at exit, it follows

must be positive in the entry region of the bearing and change sign to

become negative as the exit is approached. This is consistent with a pressure distribution of the form shown diagrammatically in Figure 1b. Designating the film thickness to zero, that is, where p has a maximum value, then from equation (7) (8a) This equation can also be written as (8b) By introducing , which is known as the entraining velocity; in this simple case is simply equal to . at the point at which is equal

When both surfaces are in motion (and in particular when there is some rolling as well as sliding contact) some care must be taken to evaluate correctly.

By equating the right hand side of equation (7) and (8) and rearrange, the equation becomes

Where,

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