Adoption of Floating-Ring Bearing Design in Automotive Applications

Conventional journal bearing has been used in automotive engine crankshaft satisfactorily, however, the significant contribution of such bearing in the overall power losses cannot be ignored. In the present study, a comparison has held between the frictional behaviour of the conventional and floating-ring bearings under transient loading conditions.

The governing equations of the two dynamically loaded fluid films in the main and connecting rod big-end floating-ring bearings have solved numerically using convenient boundary conditions. The Tribological performance of such design has compared with that of conventional journal bearing under the same operating conditions. Results have shown that, frictional losses in floating-ring bearing are lower than that of conventional journal bearing which in turn improves the engine mechanical efficiency and reduces the breakdowns and maintenance cost. Also it is found that the inner minimum film thickness is sensitive to both inner and outer radial clearances, while the outer minimum film thickness is sensitive to the outer radial clearance only.