Effect of Nanoparticle on the Performance of Water Lubricated Journal Bearing

Abstract Journal bearings have widespread use in machinery with rotating shafts. Hydrodynamic journal bearings have lubricating fluid present between shaft and bearing to reduce friction and allow smooth operation. The lubricating fluid develops pressure when bearing is in operation and this pressure is used to carry load on the shaft. The commonly used lubricants in the industry are petroleum based synthetic oils. To do away with the disposal issues and toxicity regarding synthetic oils, water is used as the lubricating fluid for this study. The effect of adding nanoparticles to water is studied and a program in MATLAB is developed to determine the characteristics of bearing, namely load carrying capacity, coefficients of stiffness and coefficients of damping for shaft speeds 500 rpm, 1000 rpm and 1500 rpm. It is observed that addition of nanoparticles results in increased magnitude of load carrying capacity and the bearing exhibits high value of damping and stiffness coefficients indicating stability of shaft for every speed.