Stiffness and damping of liquid crystal lubricating film under electric field

In this paper, a controllable sliding bearing system, in which a liquid crystal was applied as a lubricant, was constructed, and experiments were conducted to study its controllability and dynamic properties. In the present system, a sinusoidal load was applied to the bearing pad by a magnetic exciter and the equivalent spring and damping constants were identified under various electric fields, sliding velocities, and film thicknesses. Results show that the applied electric field strength had a great effect on the damping properties of the liquid crystal film, whereas it had less effect on the equivalent spring constant.

► Controllable sliding bearing system, in which a liquid crystal was applied as a lubricant. ► Film thickness was changed according to the electric voltage applied to lubricant. ► Equivalent spring and damping constants under various electric fields. ► Equivalent damping coefficient was increased under an electric field compared to the case without an electric field.