Predicting friction reliably and accurately in journal bearings—extending the EHD simulation model to TEHD

In a previous work an elastohydrodynamic (EHD) simulation model was presented to predict the frictional losses within journal bearings and validated with a large set of measurements. In the current work this simulation model is extended to a thermoelastohydrodynamic (TEHD) simulation to take into account the influence of local temperatures within the bearing. Detailed comparisons of the results between the two models show that for full film lubricated and even slightly mixed lubricated working conditions the inclusion of local temperatures results in rather small corrections to the properties studied. In addition, a method is developed from the TEHD-results to estimate a representative global oil temperature for single bearings to predict friction with the EHD-model.

► An isothermal EHD simulation approach to predict friction in journal bearings is extended to TEHD.
► The method covers full film and mixed lubrication.
► Investigation of the role of local temperatures for friction prediction.
► Comparison of the results to extensive measurements conducted on a journal bearing test-rig.
► The results from the presented model agree closely with the experimental data.