Analytical Solution to the Hydrodynamic Lubrication of Fan-Shaped Thrust Step Bearings

Step bearings are frequently used in industries for better load capacities. Analytical solutions to the Rayleigh step bearing and a rectangular slider with a finite width are available in literature, but none for a fan-shaped thrust step bearing. This study starts with a known solution to the Laplace equation in a cylindrical coordinate system, which is in the form of an infinite summation. A set of analytical solutions to pressure, load capacity, flow rate, and torque loss is derived in this paper for hydrodynamic lubrication problems encountered in the fan-shaped step bearing. These analytical solutions are compared with those for the rectangular slider and the Rayleigh step bearing to reveal relationships among them. When the inner radius becomes smaller, the load capacity increases, almost linearly in a certain region. The effects of inner radius, step height, and step location on pressure distribution and load capacity are studied in general and under a specific set of bearing geometry as an example. The presented solutions can be useful for designers to maximize bearing performance as well as for researchers to benchmark numerical lubrication models.