Analysis of the effect of grooves in single and twin axial groove journal bearings under varying load direction

Multi-axial groove hydrodynamic journal bearings are often preferred over single grooved ones to improve lubricant distribution. However, when assessing the influence of loading angle for a twin axial groove bearing, the authors detected the occurrence of phenomena such as strong negative flow rate in one of the grooves for a broad range of loading angles which was deleterious to bearing performance. Conversely, single groove bearings display acute starvation for specific loading ranges. The authors use a previously proposed thermohydrodynamic approach to compare the role of single and twin groove bearings under variable loading direction. Results show that a groove deactivation strategy (using check valves) might be a best-of-both-worlds strategy, optimizing groove flow rate distribution, reducing temperature and eccentricity levels. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.