Exploring diverse waviness patterns in sector pad bearings: Thermohydrodynamic investigation considering mechanical deformation

This paper conducts a comprehensive two-dimensional investigation of sector pad bearings, addressing the combined influence of mechanical deformation, temperature variations, and deterministic roughness patterns on bearing performance. Elastic and thermal effects were incorporated to improve the accuracy of the analysis, and the Successive Over Relaxation (SOR) technique was employed to enhance computational efficiency. The study examined the load capacity of sector pad bearings under deterministic roughness profiles such as saw-tooth, sinusoidal, square, and triangular applied circumferentially and radially. Moreover, the effect of bilateral sinusoidal surface waviness was analyzed. The results show that circumferential waviness has a stronger influence on pressure generation than radial waviness, while bilateral waviness exhibits an intermediate effect. Further, the effect of film thickness ratio on performance parameters was evaluated under different lubrication modes. Additionally, different pad profiles were assessed for their impact on load-carrying capacity. These insights contribute to the optimization and design of sector pad bearings in precision-driven applications.