The Journal Bearing Analysis Suite

Background The Journal Bearing Analysis Suite is the first transient journal bearing code to implement the Jacobsson-Floberg-Olsson (JFO) boundary conditions. It uses a mass conserving algorithm devised by Professor Emeritus Harold Elrod, Columbia University, and was written by David E. Brewe of the U.S. Army at the NASA Lewis Research Center in 1983. Since then, new features and improvements have been built into the code by several contributors supported through Army and NASA funding via co-operative agreements with the University of Toledo (Prof. Ted Keith, Jr. and Dr. D. Vijayaraghavan), National Research Council Programs (Dr. D. Vijayaraghavan). All this was conducted with the close consultation of Prof. H.G. Elrod and project management of D. E. Brewe. This version is written to perform a thermo-hydrodynamic analysis of fluid film Journal bearings using collocation across the film thickness at Lobatto points and using Legendre polynomials. The Technology Planetary gear systems are an efficient means of achieving high reduction ratios with minimum space and weight. They are used in helicopter, aerospace, automobile, and many industrial applications. High-speed planetary gear systems will have significant dynamic loading and high heat generation. Hence, they need jet lubrication and associated cooling systems. For units operating in critical applications that necessitate high reliability and long life, that have very large torque loading, and that have downtime costs that are significantly greater than the initial cost, hydrodynamic journal bearings are a must. Computational and analytical tools are needed for sufficiently accurate modeling to facilitate optimal design of these systems. Sufficient physics is needed in the model to facilitate parametric studies of design conditions that enable optimal designs.