Investigation of the synergism on distribution parameters of micro dimples in partially textured thrust pad bearing

Partially surface texturing is a promising technology to improve the performance of thrust pad bearing. Moreover, how to design the distribution parameters of local textures is a crucial issue of the amelioration of lubrication and anti-friction. Hence, the synergistic effect of micro dimples’ distribution parameters was systematically investigated by numerical and experimental approaches. The textured region area ratio (TRAR) was defined to analyze the synergy of radial and circumferential parameters. Then, a series of frictional tests were conducted with different positions and proportions. The results showed that the CPP and RPP directly determined the efficacy of the ‘equivalent Rayleigh step’ which could enhance the cumulative response of hydrodynamic lubrication. Meanwhile, there was an optimal TRAR (about 0.8) according to the favorable fitting curve with R Square (R 2 ) being 0.9013. And circumferential proportion parameter (CPP) and radial proportion parameter (RPP) exhibit an interactive relationship which was dependent on the optimal TRAR. On the other hand, for generating the ‘inlet roughness’ and ‘open pocket’, the circumferential location parameter (CLP) of local textures needed to keep close to the inlet without consideration of the radial location parameter (RLP) due to the negligible influence.