Flow and Stress Induced Cavitation in a Journal Bearing With Axial Throughput

The problem of predicting flow between rotating eccentric cylinders with axial throughput is studied. The system models a device used to test the stability of emulsions against changes in drop size distribution. The analysis looks for the major variation in flow properties which could put an emulsion at risk due to coalescence or breakage and finds the most likely candidate in the pressure gradient defined as the ratio of the difference between the maximum and minimum pressure to the arc length between the difference. The axial throughput is modeled by flow driven by a constant pressure gradient. The flow is calculated from the Navier-Stokes equation using the code SIMPLER (Patankar 1980). The effects of inertia at values typical for the device are studied. Several eccentricities and different rotational speeds are computed to sample the changes in flow and stress parameters in the idealized device for typical conditions. The numerical analysis is validated against the lubrication approximation in the low Reynolds number case. Conditions for stress induced cavitation are evaluated. The flow is completely determined by a Reynolds number, an eccentricity ratio and a dimensionless pressure gradient and all computed results are either presented or can be easily expressed in terms of these dimensionless parameters. The effect of inertia is to shift the eddy or re-circulation zone which develops in the more open region of the gap toward the region of low relative pressure; the zero of the relative pressure migrates away from the center and the distribution breaks the skew symmetry of the Stokes flow solution. The state of stress in the journal bearing is analyzed and a cavitation criterion based on the maximum tensile stress is compared with the traditional criterion based on pressure.