Influence of lubricants on the performance of journal bearings - a review

The lubricant properties have a significant influence on the static and dynamic performance characteristics of journal bearing such as load-carrying capability, minimum fluid film thickness, maximum pressure, lubricant flow rate, damping coefficients, stiffness coefficients, etc. The present document reviews the behaviour of various lubricants such as power-law lubricants, couple stress lubricants, micropolar lubricants, ionic liquid lubricants and space lubricants. The influence of these lubricants on the performance of hydrostatic, hydrodynamic and hybrid journal bearings is discussed. An effort is made to develop the understanding to choose the suitable lubricant for journal bearings for different journal bearing configurations. Journal bearings operated with non-Newtonian lubricants have shown better performance compared to Newtonian lubricants. Ionic liquid lubricants have shown high potential in vacuum applications and extreme temperature environment such as in bearings of spacecraft moving mechanical assemblies.