Laser surface texturing(LST) methods are applied recently to generate microdimple in machine components with parallel sliding surfaces such as thrust bearings, mechanical face seals and piston rings, etc. It is reported experimentally the micro-dimple...
Laser surface texturing(LST) methods are applied recently to generate microdimple in machine components with parallel sliding surfaces such as thrust bearings, mechanical face seals and piston rings, etc. It is reported experimentally the micro-dimpled bearing surfaces can reduce friction force. However, precise theoretical results are not presented until now. In this paper, a commercial computational fluid dynamics(CFD) code, FLUENT is used to investigate the lubrication characteristics of parallel thrust bearing having 3-dimensional micro-dimple. The results show that tile pressure, velocity and density distributions are highly affected by dimple depths and cavitation conditions. The numerical method adopted in this paper and results can be use in design of optimum dimple characteristics.