Lubricants with variable viscosity are assuming importance for their applications in polymer industry, thermal reactors and in biomechanics. With the bearing operations in machines being subjected to high speeds, loads, increasing mechanical shearing forces and continually increasing pressures, there has been an increasing interest to use non-Newtonian fluids characterized by an yield value. The most elementary constitutive equation in common use that describes a material which yields is that of Bingham fluid. In the present work, the problem of a circular squeeze film bearing lubricated with Bingham fluid under the sinusoidal squeeze motion has been analyzed. The shape and extent of the core for the case of sinusoidal squeeze motion has been determined numerically for various values of the Bingham number. Numerical solutions have been obtained for the bearing performances such as pressure distribution and load capacity for different values of Bingham number, Reynolds number and for various amplitudes of squeeze motion. The effects of fluid inertia, non-Newtonian characteristics, and the amplitudes of squeeze motion on the bearing performances have been discussed.
non-Newtonian fluid; Bingham fluid; yield stress; rheodynamic lubrication; squeeze film bearing; sinusoidal motion
