Journal Bearing

Application ID: 8562


Journal bearings are used to carry radial loads, for example, to support a rotating shaft. A simple journal bearing consists of two rigid cylinders. The outer cylinder (bearing) wraps the inner rotating journal (shaft).

The new thin-film flow user interfaces of the CFD Module enables lubrication analysis and full elastohydrodynamic simulations. This example shows the pressure distribution in a lubricant in a journal bearing, where the bearing extends all around the rotating journal. In solving the Reynolds equation on the surface of the lubricant wrapped around the journal, the model uses a converging and diverging lubricant thickness to model the journal's eccentric position within the bearing clearance.

This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products: