Dynamically loaded bearings operating with non-Newtonian lubricant films

The behaviour of a laminar non-Newtonian film (power law) was studied for dynamically loaded bearings. The momentum equation for an infinitely long bearing is solved by assuming that the velocity profile is a superposition of couette and Poiseuille flow for power law fluids. An expression for the modified Reynolds equation is obtained for the non-Newtonian fluid film. The load- carrying capacity is obtained for various values of the viscometric exponent of the power law model. It is shown that non-Newtonian lubricants can have a pronounced effect on dynamically loaded bearings.