The influence of non-newtonian oil film short journal bearings on the stability of a rigid rotor

The stability behaviour of rotors supported in plain cylindrical cavitated non-Newtonian fluid film journal bearings is investigated. Expressions for the journal force due to the fluid film are developed for the short bearing approximate solution to the modified form of Reynolds' equation. Linearised fluid film coefficients are used for the stability analysis. The results show that the dynamic fluid film coefficients for non-Newtonian lubricants are different from Newtonian coefficients and that they have a strong influence on the stability of rotor-bearing systems.