In this paper, an unsteady thermohydrodynamic formulation of a turbocharger’s thrust bearing contact is presented. The Modified Phan-Thien and Tanner model takes into account complex rheological characteristics of the lubricant, transient aspects and inertia effects due to the very high rotational speed. An extensive rheological testing campaign was performed to get data as input for the numerical model. The results obtained from this model are compared to experimental data provided by a thrust bearing rig. It shows acceptable correlation between prediction and test data of axial thrust load versus thrust bearing oil film thickness for two typical turbocharger frame sizes.
Publisher: Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London, UK
