Effect of fluid inertia on the dynamic coefficients and stability of journal bearings

In the analysis of hydrodynamic journal bearings the effect of fluid inertia is generally neglected in view of its negligible contribution compared with viscous forces. However, there is a necessity to evaluate its effect at moderate values of the modified Reynolds number. An attempt is made to study the effect of fluid inertia on the stability of journal bearing for a flow in the laminar regime, i.e. for a value of the modified Reynolds number of the order of one. A linear perturbation technique is used to find the dynamic characteristics and stability of a finite journal bearing.