Experimental Investigation into Friction Performance of Dimples Journal Bearing with Phyllotactic Pattern

In this paper, we discuss the developments of a novel dimples journal bearing and the experimental results on friction performance. Based on the phyllotaxis theory of biology, the lubricating dimples were positioned in the internal circle surface of the journal bearing. The effects of phyllotactic pattern parameters on the distribution of these dimples were discussed in detail and simulated. A series of experimental results was presented to examine the effect of phyllotactic coefficients and dimple diameters on the friction characteristics. It was shown that the friction performance of journal bearings can be evidently improved under the proper tested parameters. Meanwhile, the friction coefficients, which are obtained in the dimples journal bearings with phyllotactic pattern and linear pattern, were presented to reveal their differences, and lower values of friction coefficients were achieved for the proposed dimples journal bearing under the tested radial load and rotational speed.