Existence of a solution for a lubrication problem in elastic journal‐bearing devices with thin bearing

Abstract
A particular elastohydrodynamic lubrication problem is modelled in this work. The presence of elasticity, lubrication and cavitation calls for a non‐linear coupled system of variational equations. The existence of a solution is deduced by means of a constructive algorithm that decouples biharmonic equation of the elastic hinged plate and the lubrication‐cavitation Elrod‐Adams free boundary problem.