One water-lubricated tilting-pad radial bearing is studied in this paper to learn the effect of temperature-viscosity effect caused by the water friction loss on the surface of the pads on the carrying capacity and dynamic characteristics of the bearing. The Reynolds equation considering the turbulent stress term and the energy equation are established based on a simplified model of the tilting-pad radial bearing. The influence of the viscosity change to the dynamic characteristics of the bearing is analyzed while considering the temperature rise in case of water friction loss.
Result shows that the temperature and water friction loss will increase in a large degree when shaft neck eccentricity is large. The carrying capacity of the bearing will decrease when the temperature increases. However, the rise of the temperature will not change the stiffness and damping coefficients. The maximal rise of the temperature reaches 293.15K (20 °C) when shaft neck eccentricity angle is 180°and eccentricity ratio is 0.9 leading to the reduction of bearing capacity by 8%. Thus, to maintain the stability and avoid the obvious temperature rise by water friction, the load force upon the shaft should be less than 280kN when the surrounding temperature is 353.15K (80°C) and shaft neck eccentricity angle is 180° and eccentricity ratio is less than 0.8.
