Experimental Study on an Influence of Bearing Geometry and TiO2 Nanoparticle Additives on the Performance Characteristics of Fluid Film Lubricated Journal Bearing

The objective of this article is to study the performance characteristics of the journal bearing experimentally having different geometries operating with commercial Mobil grade lubricants that are used in power plant. Three grades of Mobil lubricants (DTE 24, DTE 25, and DTE 26) have been considered during the study. TiO2 nanoparticle additives have also been considered during the study as a lubricant additive to examine the performance of journal bearings. An analytical approach was presented in the author's earlier work to obtain pressure and temperature profile. The dynamic characteristics such as stiffness and damping properties of journal bearings are represented in this paper. An experimental test rig is developed to accommodate any geometrical type of bearing. An elliptical journal bearing shows the superior performance than that of a plain bearing. The obtained experimental results are in a very good agreement with theoretical results for pressure and temperature profile.