The Kinetic Energy Increment for an Unstable Vibration Induced by Sliding

The Mechanics of the bearing vibration induced by sliding is studied in the present paper. The phenomenon of this kind of sliding instability is carefully caught in a numerical simulation. Due to the complex contact conditions and the finite boundary, and because the size of the bearing is relatively very small compared to the travel length in a unit time for the stress waves, a spatial particle within a bearing pad moves in a rather random way. Nevertheless, the energy required to intensify the vibration is accumulated in a positive rate. It is found that the key factors are material properties, relative sliding velocity, friction coefficient, and normal pressure as well. In the present analysis, the energy accumulation is estimated and the characteristics of the threshold of such instability can be evaluated more accurately upon the result.