BEARINGS V6: Fluid Film Bearings Analysis Package
The ARMD software package is capable of facilitating comprehensive evaluations of fluid-film bearings. Practically any bearing or bearing system available in the industry can be analyzed with one of the bearing solution modules. The FLUID-FILM bearing modules (JURNBR, HYBCBR, THRSBR and TILTBR) solve the lubrication problem in two dimensions eliminating any approximation typically associated with one dimensional analysis or with look-up table methods.
The release of RBTS’ ARMD Version 6 fluid-film bearing modules is a major milestone in the product’s development history, rolling out a completely new and improved graphical user interface for the package with enhanced numerical capabilities and new technical features. The software’s front end was redesigned with our customers’ and industry’s input to incorporate the most logical, efficient, and productive techniques to model and analyze common as well as complex configuration, fluid-film lubricated journal and thrust bearings, of all sizes with ease.
ARMD software users will immediately see the improvements as bearing design data are presented in a flatter, more accessible format, with key fields and analysis options readily visible from the main data entry screens. Fluid-film bearing design and performance evaluation productivity is vastly improved as a wide selection of templates accompanied by a “wizard” style sequence of dialogs allows the user to setup and evaluate most of the commonly used bearings in industry with few key strokes. Tab selected grids and input forms allow the user to see all of the data on screen at the same time. Furthermore, the ability to simultaneously run multiple instances of the program permits rapid side-by-side comparison of results.
Complete performance predictions of hydrodynamic, hydrostatic, and hybrid lubricated journal, conical and thrust bearings operating in the laminar and/or turbulent regime can be generated. Simulation capabilities include effects as cavitation, misalignment, pressurized boundaries, pressurized grooved feeding system, pressurized nozzle feeding system, surface/structural deviation, and lubricant feed circuitry (JURNBR, HYBCBR) with specified pressures or restrictors (capillary, orifice, or flow control valve), groove geometry and chamfers .
Results generated with the fluid-film bearing modules include:
Bearing configurations and special features that can be evaluated with the solution modules include but are not limited to:
Fixed Geometry Cylindrical and Conical Journal Bearings (JURNBR and HYBCBR)
Tilting-Pad Journal Bearings (TILTBR)
Fixed and Tilting-Pad Geometry Thrust Bearings (THRSBR)
Illustrated below, complete bearing performance results are generated when the Run button is pressed. The solution is performed for user specified operating conditions taking into consideration the pressurized feeding system. Heat balance is performed for the overall bearing system as well as individual pads in the bearing.
Sample Presentations – 3D Fluid-Film Bearing Pressure & Clearance Distributions
RBTS has developed a 3-dimensional graphics utility to view bearing performance results. For illustration, below are selected graphic screens of various types of geometries analyzed with the fluid-film bearing modules implemented in the ARMD software package (click bearing to view details).
