Calculation of the film pressure of herringbone grooved journal bearing by operator-splitting method

The operator-splitting method was used to solve universal Reynolds equation that satisfies global mass conservation over the whole lubrication domain. Thus the shear flow component of a lubrication film is solved by modified upwind finite difference scheme and the pressure gradient flow component is solved by finite element method with mass lumping. As a typical example, the numerical solutions of a slide bearing are in good agreement with that in Elrod's work. The numerical load-carrying capacity of a herringbone grooved journal bearing is larger, while the attitude angle is smaller, as compared with that predicted by Reynolds cavitations pressure boundary condition in cases of high eccentricities (Ε≥0.5).