NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF THE FINITE ELEMENT AND THE BOUNDARY ELEMENT COUPLING OF THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION FOR HEAVILY LOADED FINITE JOURNAL BEARINGS

A coupling of the finite element and the boundary element methods is applied to the analysis of the three-dimensional elastohydrodynamiclubrication for heavilyloaded finite journal bearings. An iterative scheme, which is used to overcome the difficulty of the convergence at high eccentricity ratios, is provided in this paper. The scheme, which is called the weighted average method here, is successfully carried out in the iterative procedures of a set of non-linear equations that is constitutedby a two-dimensional Reynolds' equations, a viscocity-pressure equationand three dimensional elasticity equations, The analysis yields EHL static performance parameters of journal bearings under various high eccentricity rations, when bearing materials are steel, copper and bearing brass.