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lubrication
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technical Irieffi

Simplified Solution for F = applied load

? = complete elliptic integral of the second kind
Elliptical-Contact Deformation 3 = 31 expressed by method of least squares
Between Two Elastic Solids k = ellipticity (ratio of semimajor to semiminor axis)
k = k expressed by method of least squares
David E. Brewe 1 and Bernard J. Hamrock 2 Rx = effective radius of curvature in the principal x -plane
Ry = effective radius of curvature in the principal .y-plane
>~Ax, rAy = principal radii of solid A
A linear regression by the method of least squares is made on the
geometric variables that occur in the equation for elliptical-contact TBX, >~By = principal radii of solid B
deformation. The ellipticity and the complete elliptic integrals of T = curvature difference
the first and second kind are expressed as a function of the x,y-plane 5p = elliptical-contact deformation at the center of contact
principal radii. The ellipticity was varied from 1 (circular contact) 5p = elliptical-contact deformation calculated using curve fit data
to 10 (a configuration approaching line contact). The procedure for 1/R = (l/Rx + 1/fly), curvature sum
solving for these variables without the use of charts or a high-speed
Elliptical-Contact Deformation
computer would be quite tedious. These simplified equations enable
one to calculate easily the elliptical-contact deformation to within A widely used method of describing the geometry of two solids, A
3 percent accuracy without resorting to charts or numerical meth- and B, in contact (Fig. 1) is to express it in terms of the effective
ods. curvatures, that is,
1_ l
Introduction (1)
R Rx
The classical Hertz solution requires the calculation of k, the el-
where
lipticity, and ? and 6, the complete elliptic integrals of the first and
second kind, respectively. Previously this entailed finding a solution
(2)
to a transcendental equation that related k, 7, and 6° to the geometry Rx r
Ax rBx
(reference [l]). 3 This was usually accomplished by some iterative
numerical procedure (reference [2]) or with the aid of charts (refer-
ences [1, 3, 4, 5, and 6]).
In this report a linear regression by the method of least squares is
made on these variables. The ellipticity and the complete elliptic in-
tegrals of the first and second kind are expressed as functions of the
x,y -plane principal radii. The ellipticity was varied from 1 (circular
contact) to 10 (a configuration approaching line contact). The re-
sulting simplified equations enable one to easily calculate the point-
contact deformation to within 3 percent accuracy without resorting
to charts or numerical methods. The programmable pocket calculator
is especially well suited to the implementation of this approach. The
advantage of this approach is more readily realized when the more
general case of two elastic solids forming an elliptical contact is
treated.

Nomenclature
A = solid A
B = solid B
E = modulus of elasticity

£' = 2
/f EA
VA 1
+ - EB
VB

I
£ = complete elliptic integral of the first kind
€ = £ expressed by method of least squares

1
U. S. Army Air Mobility R&D Laboratory, Cleveland, Ohio.
2
NASA, Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio.
3
Numbers in brackets designate References at end of brief.
Contributed by the Lubrication Division of THE AMERICAN SOCIETY
OP MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. Manuscript received by the Lubrication
Division July 1,1976; revised manuscript received August 25,1976. Fig. 1 Geometry of contacting elastic solids

Journal of Lubrication Technology Copyright © 1977 by ASME OCTOBER 1977 / 485

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 &P* I" 3FR I'1 - VA2 1 - VB 2/3
_L _L (3) dp
)] (9)
Rv ''Ay ?By ~ 2R L 2 \ EA EB
The variables Rx and Ry represent the effective radius of curvature w here
in the principal x and y planes, respectively. From reference [1] an
auxiliary equation relating the curvature difference and the elliptic 27 / IT \l/3
(10)
integrals can be written as IT \2k2SJ

k V2s/-g(i + r)
<s(i - r)
(4) If solid A is of the same material as solid B, then equations (9) and (10)
can be combined to give
where _ / 9F2S73 \ i/3
P (11)
~ \2^E'2k2SR/
(5)
V/lv Kyi The elliptical-contact deformation can now be calculated in terms
Since 7 and 6 are functions only of k, equation (4) indicates that the of the curve fit equations.
ellipticity k can be expressed strictly in terms of the principal plane Qpzga .1/3
curvatures. P
(12)
A numerical one-point iteration procedure (reference [7]) was used ~ \2w2E,2k2lR/
to generate A; for a given (Rx, Ry)i for i = 1, 2, , 39. The corre-
Consequently, we see that for a given load and modulus, the defor-
sponding elliptic integrals were evaluated numerically using a Landen mation can be expressed entirely in terms of Rx and Ry. Equation (11)
transformation described by Bulirsh [8]. Reference [6] indicates that can be determined also with the aid of charts (reference [1,3,4,5, and
k has been approximated as k - (Ry/Rx)2/S. Thus for a given set of 6]). The methods of this report provide an alternative, simplified
pairs of data, {[&,-, (Ry/Rx)i]t i = 1, 2 , . . . , 39}, a power fit using a linear
solution for the elliptical-contact deformation. With the advent of
regression by the method of least squares resulted in the following the programmable calculator, the application becomes especially
equation: easy.
R s 0.6360 Table 1 compares 6p (determined from the curve fit equation) with
h= 1.0339 {-^
© (6) bp (determined numerically). The ellipticity k was varied from 1 (a
ball on a plate) to 10 (a configuration approaching line contact). For
The asymptotic behavior of S and 7 (reference [10]) was suggestive convenience the regression coefficients for k, <?, and J were rounded
of the type of functional dependence that & and "3- might follow. As off to two places to the right of the decimal. Consequently, a slight
a result, an inverse and logarithmic curve fit was tried for G and 7 , round-off error may add to or subtract from the percent error (percent
respectively. The following expressions provided excellent curve given in Table 1). The percent error was determined as follows:
fits:
(X - X)100
0.5968 (14)
6 = 1.0003 + - (7) X
Ry/RX
where
and
X = \k, S, 3, iP\
3< = 1.5277+ 0.6023 In- (8) X = \k, I, W, dp]
Rx
Values o(k,$, and ? are presented in Table 1 and compared with the Note that for the case of a ball on a plate, which results in a circular
numerically determined values of k, &, and S7. All of the values of contact, Ry/Rx = 1.0 and k = 1.00. Further, for this case the elliptic
Ry/Rx in Table 1 (except RyIRx = 1) were included in the least squares integrals S and 7 reduce to 7r/2. Consequently, SP is determined di-
fit. An indication that the curve fits were excellent was that the rectly without the need to determine k, <?, and ? via curve fitting,
coefficient of determination was not less than 0.9997 for any of these charts, or the numerical methods described in references [5 and 6].
expressions. A value of 1.000 would indicate a perfect fit, while a value The largest error (—5 percent) in determining dp was for the circular
of zero would be the worst possible fit. contact case. If one eliminates the circular contact case, the largest
From reference [1] the elliptical-contact deformation at the center error in determining the contact deformation using the curve fit values
of contact is becomes less than 3 percent.

T a b l e 1 C o m p a r i s o n of t h e n u m e r i c a l l y d e t e r m i n e d v a l u e s w i t h t h e c u r v e fit v a l u e s for t h e g e o m e t r i c a l l y d e p e n d e n t
variables
Elliptical-contact deformation
Complete elliptic Complete elliptic at center of contact, bp
Radius of Elliptici ty integral of first kind integral of second kind
ratio, Percent Percent Percent numerically, from curve fit Percent
Ry/Rx k k error, e £ £ error, e S? 5? error, e bP equation, 7 p error, e
"1.000 1.00 1.03 3.00 1.57 1.60 1.91 1.57 1.53 -2.55 1.230 X 10" 4 1.168 X 10 - 4 -5.04
2.820 1.99 2.00 .50 1.21 1.21 0 2.15 2.15 0 1.020 1.017 -.29
5.314 3.01 3.00 -.33 1.11 1.11 2.53 2.53 0 .897 .899 .22
8.330 4.01 4.00 -.25 1.07 1.07 2.80 2.80 0 .814 .816 .25
11.805 4:99 5.00 .20 1.05 1.05 3.02 3.01 -.29 .756 .752 -.53
15.697 5.97 6.00 .50 1.04 1.04 3.19 3.18 -.25 .706 .701 -.71
19.971 6.92 7.00 1.16 1.03 1.03 3.33 3.33 0 .667 .662 -.75
24.605 7.87 8.00 1.65 1.02 1.02 3.46 3.45 -.24 .636 .628 -1.26
29.576 8.80 9.00 2.27 1.02 1.02 3.57 3.56 -.22 .608 .598 -1.64
34.869 9.72 10.00 2.88 1.02 1.02 3.67 3.66 -.25 .584 .571 -2.23
a
R y / R x = 1.000, t h e n £. = ? = 7T/2 and k = 1.00. T h e r e is n o need t o use t h e curve fit values for this case.

486 / OCTOBER 1977 Transactions of the ASME

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 References
1 Harris, Tedric A., Rolling Bearing Analysis, Wiley, 1966.
2 Hamrock, Bernard J., and Dowson, Duncan, "Numerical Evaluation
of the Surface Deformation of Elastic Solids Subjected to a Hertzian Contact
Stress," NASA T N D-7774,1974.
3 Jones, A. B., "Analysis of Stresses and Deflections," New Departure
Engineering Data, Vols. I and II, General Motors, Inc., 1946.
4 Walowit, J. A., and Anno, J. N., Modern Developments in Lubrication
Mechanics, Wiley Applied Science Publishers, 1975, pp. 81-84.
5 Timoshenko, S., and Goodier, J. N., Theory of Elasticity, McGraw-Hill,
3rd Ed., 1970, pp. 414-417.
6 Roark, R. J., and Young, W. C , Formulas for Stress and Strain,
McGraw-Hill, 5th Ed., 1975, pp. 516-518.
7 Hamrock, B. J., and Anderson, W. J., Analysis of an Arched Outer-Race
Ball Bearing Considering Centrifugal Forces," JOURNAL OF LUBRICATION
TECHNOLOGY, TRANS. ASME, Series F, Vol. 95, No. 3, July 1973, pp.
265-276.
8 Bulirsch, Roland, Numerical Calculation of Elliptic Integrals and El-
liptic Functions, Numerische Mathematik, Vol.7,1965, pp. 78-90.
9 Hamrock, Bernard J., and Dowson, Duncan, "Isothermal Elastohy-
drodynamic Lubrication of Point Contacts. II—Ellipticity Parameter Results,"
NASA TN D-8166,1976.
10 Abramowitz, Milton, and Stegun, Irene A., Handbook of Mathematical
Functions, AMS-55 National Bureau of Standards, 1964.
kx, ky, kz = permeability coefficients of porous material in the cir-
cumferential, axial, and radial directions
L = length of bearing
p,p = pressure (absolute) in the bearing clearance, p = p/pa
p', p' = pressure (absolute) in the porous bushing, p ' = p'lpa
P'li Pi = perturbed pressure ratios, p\ — Pilpa, p ' l = p'i/Pa
pa = ambient pressure (absolute)
Ps, Ps = supply pressure (absolute), p s = p.JPa
R = journal radius
W,W = load capacity, W = W/LDpa e (dimensionless)
x, y, z = coordinates
0, y,z = dimensionless coordinates, 0 = x/R, y = y/(L/2), z = z/H
t = eccentricity ratio, e = e/C (dimensionless)
r] = coefficient of absolute viscosity of gas
A = bearing number, A = 6 W P a ( C / R ) 2 (dimensionless)
Ap = feeding parameter, A p = 12k2R2/C3H (dimensionless)
"i' = attitude angle
u> = angular speed of journal
Theory
Using the conventional basic assumptions [1] of a gas-lubricated
porous bearing (Fig. 1), the Darcy's law can be written as
d2p'2 32p'2 d2P'2
(I)
dx1 dyl dz2-
The governing equation in the bearing clearance is given by

dx \ dx I dy\ dy /
d{ph) , , /dp'2-
12^R±W + 12kt(!!Pl)
l o
(2)
dx \ dz Jz=H
Porous Gas Journal Bearings- As H/R is small, it may be assumed that flow through the porous
material takes place in only radial direction. Equations (1) and (2)
A Semianalytical Solution then can be modified and the dimensionless form of these are
d2p'2
B. C. Majumdar1 = 0 (3)
32 2
and
Introduction D \ 2 _ <92p2 d(ph) /dp'2\
d_
A few analyses of an externally bearing with journal rotation are
available [1-4]. 2 Sneck and Yen [2] used pressure perturbation
dO ("£>©* dy 2
" d8 " " \ dz h
(4)

theory and gave results for two limiting cases, namely, for a stationary The boundary conditions of equations (3) and (4) are:
journal and for very high journal speeds. Sun [3] used a variable <j> = (i) at z = 0, p' = ps
ph and solved the differential equation by finite difference method
(FDM). Rohde and Oh [4] calculated the bearing characteristics using
finite element method (FEM). Considering three dimensional gas flow
through the porous bushing the author [1] has also given the solution
of rotating journal using FDM. The aforementioned references [1-4]
are numerical solutions of differential equation and the methods are
quite costly in terms of computer time. The aim of the present paper
POROUS
is to give a somewhat improved method requiring much less computer
BUSHING
time as compared to those given in [1-4].

Nomenclature
C = radial clearance
D = journal diameter
e — eccentricity
G = a function
H = thickness of porous bushing
h,h = film thickness, h = h/C = 1 + e cos I)

1
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian In-
stitute of Technology, Kharagpur, India.
2
Numbers in brackets designate References at end of brief.
Contributed by the Lubrication Division of T H E AMERICAN SOCIETY
OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. Manuscript received by the Lubrication
Division January 15,1977, revised manuscript received April 14,1977. Fig. 1 A porous gas journal bearing

Journal of Lubrication Technology OCTOBER 1977 / 487

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