FEM Applied to Hydrodynamic Bearing Design

The present chapter is aimed to provide the theoretical foundation of FEM mass- and energy-conserving models as well as to report their application to the ThermoHydroDynamic (THD) and/or ThermoElastoHydroDynamic (TEHD) analysis of different bearing types. Author’s original contributions to the simulation methods are explained. They include the FEM groove-mixing theory, the SUPG stabilization of the conservation equations and the "quasi-3D" approach to the thermal problem. The theoretical construct is useful to enable the analysts to manage the models and to understand the responses. The application examples are relevant to both journal and axial bearings with fixed and tilting pads, in order to demonstrate the high flexibility of the method. With few modifications the presented method can be applied to the design of several types of bearings in both steady and dynamic loading conditions. The scope of the paper is anyway limited to the analysis of steadily-loaded bearings working in laminar lubrication regime.