Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Supplementary Article

Analysis of Static and Dynamic Load on Hydrostatic

Bearing with Variable Viscosity and Pressure
V. Srinivasan*
Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering, Bharath University, Chennai-73; srinivasan_v9669@[Link]

Abstract
Hydrostatic bearing finds wide application in machine tools with various technologies because of their high stiffness and
damping characteristic. The environmental conditions, such as low and/or high temperatures, dust and dirt, moisture and
unusual mounting conditions, can also affect a bearing’s performance adversely. Therefore, both mechanical and environ-
mental factors may affect the choice of a bearing and its performance. For high speed applications it is necessary to have
design data including the effect of rotational lubricant [Link] objective of the study is to design a hydrostatic bear-
ing with following properties such as high stiffness, damping characteristic and lubrication inertia. In the present study
Reynolds equation is used and boundary conditions are changed for various parameters such as temperature distribution,
viscosity variation and radial load. The simulated results were analyzed in detail and found that increasing the viscosity of
hydrostatic thrust bearing under specific conditions when both surfaces are rotated, the wear and tear are minimized and
life time has been increased. This will be of great use in high speed applications.

Keywords: Hydrostatic Bearing, Viscosity, Pressure, Temperature, Reynolds Equation, Lubricant.

1.  Introduction inertia of the lubricant can create a significant change in

the viscosity variation, particularly when air is used as
It is customary in the theory of lubrication to assume that the lubricant, resulting in a loss in the load capacity of the
the influence of the inertia terms in the equations of motion bearing [2].
are negligible compared with the effect of the viscous term. In the practical applications of externally pressur-
When the lubricant gap and the flow rate are small, the ized thrust bearings, it is usual for one of the bearing
pressure falls logarithmically in a radial direction towards surfaces to rotate. As the speed of rotation increases, the
the edge of the bearing, as indicated by the exact solution centripetal inertia term become dominant relative to
of the Navier Stokes equations. Studies ignoring the inertia the viscous term reducing the overall viscosity varia-
terms and assuming negligible transverse velocity compo- tion. Researchers have investigated this particular case,
nents has been reported [1]. deriving expressions for the viscosity variation for plane
When the lubricant gap and flow rate are large, the vis- and stepped bearings [3, 4]. The same was revealed by
cosity variation is governed mainly by the inertia terms in other wonders that the importance of both the radial and
the equations of motion and positive pressure gradients the rotational inertia terms in the equations of motion
are encountered at the smaller radii and negative pres- has recently increased due to extreme bearing operating
sure gradients further out towards the edge of the bearing. conditions [5].
Solutions for the condition of large lubricant gap and flow Hydrostatic thrust bearings characteristics: High load-
rate for stationary parallel discs are well known. The radial carrying capacity, zero wear of bearing surfaces, low ­friction

*Corresponding author:
V. Srinivasan (srinivasan_v9669@[Link])
4778 Analysis of Static and Dynamic Load on Hydrostatic Bearing with Variable Viscosity and Pressure

57

56

55

Temperature
54

53

52

51

50
10 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Freqency
Figure 1.  Pad thickness (load and bearing). PTD pad 0.5mm
PTD pad 1.0mm
PTD pad 1.5mm
at low or zero speeds, large fluid film stiffness and damp-
ing, as shown in Figure 1 reduced vibrations and good
Figure 2.  Frequency with thickness of pad.
positional accuracy [6]. Different bearing configurations
were considered and it was reported that the addition of
the stem enabled this bearing to support radial loads [2]. 2. Fluid film lubrication may break down during starting,
Analytically studied the performance of circular thrust pad direction changing, and stopping.
hydrostatic bearing of various recess shapes, i.e., triangu- 3. In a journal bearing the shaft runs eccentrically and the
lar, square, rectangular etc. They compared results with the bearing location varies with load, thus implying low
solutions obtained by an electrical analog technique. stiffness.
Owing to rapid technological advancements in manu-
facturing techniques, super heavy constant flow hydrostatic In hydrostatic also called “externally pressurized” lubri-
thrust bearing having sector recess can be used widely in cated bearings the bearing surfaces are separated by a fluid
the many industrial heavy applications. film maintained by a pressure source outside the bear-
In order to provide reasonable data for design, lubrication, ing [9]. Hydrostatic bearings avoid disadvantages 1 and
thermal deformation and force deformation computation 2 and reduce the variation of bearing location with load
for hydrostatic thrust bearing in the heavy equipment, it is mentioned in disadvantage 3. The characteristics of hydro-
important to compute viscosity variation, temperature dis- statically lubricated bearings are:
tribution and oil flow rate of the super heavy constant flow
hydrostatic thrust bearing having sector recess [7]. 1. Extremely low friction
Flat-land thrust bearings are the simplest and least 2. Extremely high load-carrying capacity at low speeds
expensive to make. They handle light loads for simple posi- 3. High positional accuracy in high-speed, light-load
tioning of rotors in electric motors, appliances, crankshafts, applications
and other machinery. Flat-land bearings carry 10 to 20% the 4. A lubrication system more complicated than that for
load of other thrust-bearing types. Previous studies reveal self-acting bearings. Therefore, hydrostatically lubri-
that flat parallel surfaces do not directly build oil-film pres- cated bearings are used when the requirements are
sure through pumping action [8] as shown in Figure 2. They extreme as in large telescopes and radar tracking units,
depend instead on thermal expansion of both the oil film where extremely heavy loads and extremely low speeds
and bearing surface to generate an oil-supporting wedge. are used, or in machine tools and gyroscopes, where
Self-acting hydro dynamically lubricated slider bear- extremely high speeds, light loads, and gas lubricants
ings have, however, certain important disadvantages: are used.

1. If the design speed is low, it may not be possible to gen- Fluid bearings use a thin layer of liquid or gas fluid
erate sufficient hydrodynamic pressure. between the bearing faces, typically sealed around or under

[Link] | Vol 6 (6S) | June 2013 Indian Journal of Science and Technology | Print ISSN: 0974-6846 | Online ISSN: 0974-5645
 V. Srinivasan 4779

the rotating shaft. There are two principal ways of getting design. The pressure pads in hydrostatic bearings carry the
the fluid into the bearing: load capacity.
Most hydrostatic systems (thrust or journal bearings)
• In fluid static, hydrostatic and many gas or air bearings, use several evenly spaced pads so nonsymmetrical load
the fluid is pumped in through an orifice or through a distributions can be handled. To estimate performance,
porous material. pads can be treated separately.
• In fluid-dynamic bearings, the bearing rotation sucks Pressure is maintained in the recess by fluid pumped
the fluid on to the inner surface of the bearing, forming through a flow restrictor. The pressure lifts the rotor until
a lubricating wedge under or around the shaft. flow out of the recess and over the land equals flow in.
A constant gap is maintained for a given recess pres-
Hydrodynamic bearings rely on bearing motion to suck sure and bearing load. The gap establishes the volume of
fluid into the bearing and may have high friction and short fluid pumped through the bearing. An alternative design is
life at speeds lower than design or during starts and stops. to connect a fluid displacement pump (gear or vane type)
An external pump or secondary bearing may be used for directly to each pocket without flow restriction.
startup and shutdown to prevent damage to the hydrody- Pressurizing pump power can be estimated from the
namic bearing [10]. product of pad pressure and total flow through the pads.
A secondary bearing may have high friction and short For an estimate of lubricant flow rate, a gap (or film thick-
operating life, but good overall service life if bearing starts ness) is assumed -- typical values are 0.001 to 0.002 in.
and stops are infrequent. Design of flow restrictors influences bearing stiffness,
The thin films can be thought to have pressure and vis- pumping power, supply pressure, and lubricant flow. A flow
cous forces acting on them. Because there is a difference in restrictor is necessary to provide a pressure drop between
velocity there will be a difference in the surface traction vec- the supply manifold and the pad recesses to ensure pres-
tors [11]. Because of mass conservation we can also assume sure requirements in any given pad never exceed supply
an increase in pressure, making the body forces different. pressure. A bearing with restrictors is called a “compen-
Fluid bearings can be relatively cheap compared to sated bearing.”
other bearings with a similar load rating. The bearing can Action of the restrictors is such that if the thrust load
be as simple as two smooth surfaces with seals to keep in is centered, pressure in all the pads is equal and lower than
the working fluid [12]. pump pressure. If the load is off center, the gap decreases
In contrast, a conventional rolling-element bearing somewhat on the loaded side and flow from the pad also
may require many high-precision rollers with complicated decreases. This results in an increase in loaded-pad pres-
shapes. Hydrostatic and many gas bearings do have the sure and a decrease in pad pressure on the opposite side.
complication and expense of external pumps. The runner automatically seeks a nearly level attitude.
The boundary conditions for slip flow at the surface of
2.  Objectives a gas bearing can be written as.

To analyse the viscosity variation of the lubricant used for

the hydrostatic thrust bearing.
To analyse the load carrying capacity of the lubricant
used for the hydrostatic thrust bearing.
To analyse the static and dynamic characteristic of vari-
ous film thickness in hydrostatic thrust bearing.
To analyse the temperature variation of the lubricant
used for the hydrostatic thrust bearing.

3. Research Analysis Modeling

The research deals with the designing of a complex hydro-
static bearing of self-acting type satisfying the requiring Figure 3.  Bearing surface contact.

[Link] | Vol 6 (6S) | June 2013 Indian Journal of Science and Technology | Print ISSN: 0974-6846 | Online ISSN: 0974-5645
4780 Analysis of Static and Dynamic Load on Hydrostatic Bearing with Variable Viscosity and Pressure

 2 − f   ∂ u ∂   ∂ w ∂u   ∂   ∂u ∂ u  
uslip = s  l  (1) + h + + h  +  (5)
 f   ∂ z  wall ∂ z   ∂ y ∂ z   ∂ x   ∂ x ∂ y  

where f is the reflection coefficient, l is the mean free path Dw ∂ p 2 ∂   ∂ w ∂ u  
r =rZ− + h − +
and s is a numerical constant. Because s and f are close Dt ∂ z 3 ∂ z   ∂ z ∂ x  
to unity it can be assumed that s(2 − f ) / f is unity. As the
2 ∂   ∂ w ∂u  
molecular mean free path l depends upon fluid viscosity, h − +
pressure and temperature it can be approximated by the 3 ∂ z   ∂ z ∂ y  

relation.    
∂  ∂ u ∂ w  ∂   ∂ w ∂u   
+ h + + h +  (6)
l=
16 h
(RT )1 / 2 ∂ x   ∂ z ∂ x   ∂ y   ∂ y ∂ z  
(2) 
5(2 p )1/ 2
p  ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
+ ( r u) + ( ru) + ( r w) = 0 6(a)
where R is the gas constant, T the temperature of the gas, h ∂t ∂ x ∂y ∂z 
the viscosity of the gas and p its pressure. With the usual assumptions of lubrication theory equa-
The effect of slip is also important on the flow behav- tions. can be simplified to
iour of liquids especially when the bearing surface is very
smooth and is operating at higher surface temperatures ∂p ∂  ∂ u
= h (7)
as shown in Figure 3 where the viscosity of the base oil ∂x ∂ z  ∂ z  
decreases near the surface. This effect has been studied for
liquids. The slip velocity at the will can be written as ∂p ∂  ∂u
= h (8)
1  ∂ u ∂y ∂ z  ∂ z  
uslip = h  (3)
b  ∂ z  wall
 where p = p (x, y) is the film pressure.
where b is the coefficient of sliding friction at the wall and Equation represents a generalized form of Reynolds
h is the liquid viscosity. equation for compressible fluid film lubrication consider-
ing slip velocities at the bearing surfaces.
The two sets of functions F and G depend upon the
3.1 Reynolds Equation variation of fluid properties both along and across the film
The physical configuration of fluid flow between two curved and on the slip conditions at the surfaces which is shown
surfaces is shown in Figure 1. in Figure 4.
The basic equations of motion and the equation of con- The viscosity of the lubricant can vary across the film
tinuity for a Newtonian fluid considering the variation of thickness which is shown in Figure 5 and may be different
fluid properties both across and along the film thickness near the bearing surfaces owing to the reaction of additives
can be written as
Du ∂p 2 ∂   ∂ u ∂ u  
r =rX− + h  − + Temperature due to Oil Film Pressure
Dt ∂x 3 ∂x   ∂ x ∂ y  
2 ∂   ∂ u ∂ w   550
h − +
3 ∂ x   ∂ x ∂ z  

450
  
∂   ∂u ∂ u   ∂   ∂ u ∂ w   
+ h  + + h +  (4)
∂y   ∂ x ∂ y   ∂ z   ∂ z ∂ x   350

Du  
∂ p 2 ∂  ∂u ∂u   
r = rY − + h − + 250
Dt ∂ y 3 ∂ y   ∂ y ∂ x   5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

2 ∂   ∂u ∂ w   Rot at ional S peed( rmp)

h − +
3 ∂ y   ∂ y ∂ z  
 Figure 4.  Temperature distribution curve.

[Link] | Vol 6 (6S) | June 2013 Indian Journal of Science and Technology | Print ISSN: 0974-6846 | Online ISSN: 0974-5645
 V. Srinivasan 4781

Viscosity variation across the film Liquid hydrostatic thrust bearing working principle
is that lubricating oil which is compulsively injected into
oil cavity forms bearing capacity of hydrostatic bearing
8 through throttling action of the gap between resistive oil
7 edges and the rotary table, lifts bearing spindle, and bears
6 external loads.
f ilm t h ic k n e s s

5 The working principle of hydrostatic bearing with

4 quantitative oil supply is shown as Figure 1. Lubricating
3 oil enters into oil cavity from pump along inlet and flows
2 out along the radial shallow recess and resistive oil edges of
1 external ring as shown in Figure 1.
0 Flow mobility of the fluid between HIP round rail and
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 rotating worktable must meet mass conservation, momen-
crank angle tum conservation and energy conservation.

Figure 5.  Temperature distribution curve with various

viscosities.
3.2  Mass Conservation Equation
The law of mass conservation is the basic law which meets
and surfactants with the surfaces. The most general form any mobile system. Mass conservation equation is:
of Reynolds equation to study such a situation is given by ∂r ∂( ru) ∂( ru) ∂( r w )
+ + + =0
the equation ∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z 
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
+ ( r u) + ( ru) + ( r w) = 0 where r is density (kg/m3); t is time (s); u, u and w are in
∂t ∂ x ∂y ∂z 
the x , y and z direction component of speed vector u .
Considering a reasonable case where the density and viscos- Flow capacity is 0.098 kg/s, external pressure is 0.1 Mpa,
ity of the lubricant near the bearing surfaces may be different the worktable rotational speed of 2.5 rpm, 8 rpm, 10 rpm,
from that of the central region gives the viscosity changes. 12.5 rpm, 16 rpm, 20 rpm, 25 rpm, 31.5 rpm and 40 rpm,
The pressure boundary condition necessary for the the three-dimensional pressure fields, temperature fields
solution of eqn.(8) in general are not satisfactorily known and flow fields. The recess and obviously overlapping in the
and hence a one dimensional analysis is carried out in oil cavities, the flow state is from laminar flow to turbulent
Reynold equation 7(a) to study qualitatively the effect of flow.
pseudo plasticity on piston ring lubrication.
In order to increase rotational speed and bearing
capacity of a constant flow hydrostatic thrust bearing, a 4.  Findings
theoretical study concerning lubrication performance of a This research after using the modified Reynolds equations
super heavy constant flow hydrostatic thrust bearing hav- assuming that there is a relation between the viscosity
ing sector recess is described. and film thickness determines the flow, the load, and the
The Computational Fluid Dynamics and the Finite pumping power loss for bearing. The simulation model has
Volume Method have been used to compute the lubrication established that there is a relationship between hydrostatic
characteristics of a super heavy constant flow hydrostatic thrust bearing performance and various film thickness in
thrust bearing, such as recess pressure, recess temperature recess pad. The simulation model has also proved that there
and oil flow rate. is decrease in the viscosity variation due to increasing the
This study theoretically analyzes the influence of viscosity of hydrostatic thrust bearing under the condition
workbench rotational speed on the bearing lubrication per- when one bearing surface is rotated. The simulation model
formance according to computational fluid dynamics and nothing but Reynold equation
lubricating theory.
It has revealed its viscosity variation law, temperature ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
+ ( r u) + ( ru) + ( r w) = 0
distribution law and oil flow rate. ∂t ∂ x ∂y ∂z 

[Link] | Vol 6 (6S) | June 2013 Indian Journal of Science and Technology | Print ISSN: 0974-6846 | Online ISSN: 0974-5645
4782 Analysis of Static and Dynamic Load on Hydrostatic Bearing with Variable Viscosity and Pressure

has also proved that there is decrease in the viscosity a complex assembly that interacts with its surrounding
variation or temperature due to increasing the viscosity of environment.
hydrostatic thrust bearing under the condition when both
bearing surface is rotated.
The hydrostatic thrust bearings to reduce the numbers
6.  References
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  3. Osman T A, Safar Z S et al. (2006). Experimental assessment
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  5. Yacout A W, Ismaeel A S et al. (2007). The combined effects
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[Link] | Vol 6 (6S) | June 2013 Indian Journal of Science and Technology | Print ISSN: 0974-6846 | Online ISSN: 0974-5645