Abstract

This paper deals with one of the most important phenomena occurring in tilting pad thrust bearings. This is the thermal phenomenon. Indeed, the viscosity of the lubricants is very dependent on film temperature, hence the need to take into account its variation for the precise determination of the performance of the lubricated contacts in the mechanisms. Thermo-hydrodynamic (THD) modelling is performed from the equations of the mechanics of viscous thin films. These equations, necessary for pressure and temperature distribution determination in any type of tilting pad thrust bearings lubricated by a Newtonian fluid have been intentionally reported at the beginning of the work.At the end of this study a computation code was developed for the resolution of the aforementioned equations for a hydrodynamic tilting pad thrust bearings. This allows plotting the pressure and temperature distribution in the film, the interface pad-film and the pad. The obtained results are satisfactory and promoters.

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