A New Approach to the Solution of Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication of Crankshaft Bearings

Abstract
A study of the elastohydrodynamic lubrication of crankshaft bearings in internal combustion engines is presented in this paper. A new method for simulating the performance of a finite width bearing and two-dimensional flexible structure is developed and introduced. The method is based on a finite element model of the structure and finite difference approximation of the Reynolds equation. In order to reduce the number of unknowns in the derived simultaneous equations, a modified form of the Reynolds equation is employed. The non-linear system of integro-differential equations is solved by a Newton—Raphson method. Analysis of a dynamically loaded Ruston—Hornsby bearing is performed and the method is found to be both rapid and robust. The influence of mesh and time step sizes upon the solution accuracy is studied.