A study on the effect of the clearance on the contact stresses and kinematics of polymeric composite journal bearings under reciprocating sliding conditions

The effect of the clearance on the contact stresses and kinematics of a polymeric composite journal bearing is investigated. To this purpose a test rig is devised, which is capable to measure the tribological characteristics of the large-scale composite bearings. Kinematics of the setup is simulated by a 2D FE model. Moreover, to evaluate the contact area between the bearing and shaft, pressure indicator films are used and a simplified 3D model is provided. Simulation results correspond closely to the experiments and it is shown that the clearance variation can have a big impact on the contact stresses distribution.

► A setup is developed for the large-scale testing of composite journal bearings.
► Mixed Lagrangian–Eulerian method is used to simulate the setup.
► The contact area is measured with pressure indicator films.
► Effect of clearance on the contact stress and kinematics is investigated numerically.
► The contact stresses are influenced by a minor variation of the clearance.