A Solution to Reduce Friction During Shutdown Process of Journal Bearings

This paper presents a new bearing structure (NSB) to reduce friction between the bearing and shaft during the shutdown process. The automatic pressure compensation mechanism (APCM), which is designed to add a half offset bearing, not only has a simple structure but also compensates the pressure when the shaft’s rotation speed drops. Therefore, the oil film’s thickness and pressure are always maintained to prevent bearings from coming into contact with the shaft. The structure, operating principle, and the theoretical model of NSB are built and described. The hydrodynamics lubrication problem is calculated by FDM methods with different diameters of pressure adjustment holes. The results show that during the shutdown process, the NSB reduces friction and wear better than conventional bearings. The effect of reducing friction and wear increases with increasing adjustment hole size. © The Institution of Engineers (India) 2024.