Semi-analytical method for calculating elastic-hydrodynamic contact

A semi-analytical method for calculating elastic-hydrodynamic contact based on the partial use of Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided Engineering (CAD / CAE) packages and solutions of the integral equation of functional relationship between pressure and deformation have been described. The pressure in the lubricating layer is described by solving the modernized Reynolds equation taking into account the factors such as elastic deformation of surfaces in the contact zone, cavitation effect in the low-pressure region, and variable viscosity of the lubricant layer, which depends on thermodynamic parameters. Based on the stationary solution, a tensor damping coefficient has been obtained, with the help of which calculations of transient non-stationary modes that occur in cases of a sharp change in the external load have been further performed. A comparison of the results of modeling a plain bearing obtained by using the proposed semi-analytical method has been made and the full calculation performed using CAD / CAE programs such as ANSYS and COMSOL Multiphysics. The comparison showed good convergence of all numerical methods. At the same time, the “hybrid” method showed a number of advantages over direct calculations in CAD / CAE packages, such as: faster calculation speed, low requirements for computing resources and accounting for the cavitation effect. The described semi-analytical method allows to create digital twins of bearing units, centrifugal pumps and hydraulic supports used in satellite cooling systems and in rotary mechanisms of ground-based satellite dishes.