Numerical Analysis of All Flow State Lubrication Performance of Water-Lubricated Thrust Bearing

A model enabling all different flow state lubrication performance simulation and analysis for water-lubricated thrust bearing is presented, considering the temperature influence and elastic deformation. Lubrication state in the model is changed directly from laminar lubrication to turbulent lubrication once Reynolds number exceeds the critical Reynolds number. The model is numerically solved and results show that temperature variation is too little to influence the lubrication performance; the elastic deformation can slightly reduce the load carrying capacity of the thrust bearing; and the turbulent lubrication can remarkably improve the load carrying capacity.