Effect of shaft frequency on cavitation in a journal bearing for noncentered circular whirl

Abstract

The effect of shaft frequency on the performance of a submerged journal undergoing noncentered circular whirl is examined. The main emphasis of the paper is on the behavior of the vapor cavitation bubble and its effect on the bearing performance as a function of frequency. A cavitation algorithm due to Elrod was implemented in a computer program which solves a time-dependent Reynolds equation. This algorithm automatically handles the boundary conditions by using a switch function and a control volume approach which conserves mass throughout the entire flow. The shaft frequencies in this investigation ranged from 0 rad/s (squeeze-film damper) to -104 rad/s (a case in which oil-whip condition was produced momentarily). For the particular vibration amplitude chosen in this investigation it was observed that vapor cavitation had an effect on the load components for the full range of shaft frequencies investigated