Oil Flow, Key Factor in Sleeve-Bearing Performance

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Abstract
The determination and understanding of the performance characteristics of cylindrical sleeve bearings is based upon three relationships. These are (a) the viscosity-temperature characteristic of the lubricant; (b) the bearing power consumption as a function of oil-film temperature; and (c) the oil flow through the bearing as a function of Sommerfeld number. The first two are well known, and this paper is concerned primarily with the nature and quantitative determination of oil flow, together with the simplified methods for the calculation of bearing performance made possible thereby. The discussion is restricted to those bearings having oil fed under pressure to their oil-distribution grooves. Oil flows from the ends of these bearings because of the pressure in the oil grooves and because of the pressures generated in the load-carrying portion of the oil film. The second type of flow is dependent upon shaft speed. Dimensionless parameters controlling both types of flow have been calculated, and experimental results on several bearing sizes confirm the theory. A detailed study of the circumferential flow of oil in the bearing shows that Petroff’s law is an excellent approximation of power loss up to an eccentricity of 0.7, and that the temperature variation in the oil film may be estimated with simple assumptions. Knowledge of bearing oil-flow characteristics permits the ready calculation of bearing performance by means of the “operating-line method.”

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