Hydrodynamic bearing are components that provide the guiding in rotation of rotating machines, such as turbines, the reactors. This equipment works under very severe operating conditions: high rotational speed and high radial load. In order to improve the hydrodynamic performance of these rotating machines, the industrialists specialized in the manufacture of hydrodynamic journal bearings, have designed a bearing model with its textured interior surface. The present work is a numerical analysis, carried out to observe the effect of a turbulent fluid flow in a non-textured and textured plain bearing and to thus to see the improvement of the hydrodynamic and tribological performances to a non- textured and textured surface of the plain bearing, under severe operating parameters. The rotational velocity varies from 11,000 to 21,000 rpm and radial load ranging from 2000 N to 9000 N. The numerical analysis is performed by solving the continuity equation of Navier-Stocks, using the finite volume method. The numerical results show that the most important hydrodynamic characteristics such as pressure, flow velocity of the fluid, friction torque, are significant for the textured plain bearing under rotational velocity of 21,000 rpm and radial load 10,000 N compared to obtained for a non-textured plain bearing.
Numerical Analysis of Hydrodynamic Characteristics for Various Types of Jack-up Legs