Numerical Modelization the Oil Film Pressure of a Hydrodynamic Tilting-Pad Thrust Bearing ☆

This study analyses the hydrodynamic characteristic of the tilting pad thrust bearing. Research content is simultaneously solving Reynolds equation, force equilibrium equation and momentum equilibrium equations. Reynolds equation is solved by utilizing finite element method with Galerkin weighted residual, thereby determines pressure at each discrete node of the film. Force and momentums are integrated from pressure nodes by Gaussian integral. Finally, force and momentum equilibrium equations are solved using Newton-Raphson iterative to achieve film thickness and inclination angles of the pad at equilibrium position. The results yielded the film thickness, the pressure distribution on the whole pad and different section of the bearing respected to radial direction. The high-pressure zone is located at the low film thickness zone and near the pivot location.