Effects of Stochastic Roughness on the Performance of Magnetic-Fluid-Based Hydrodynamic Bearings
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article presents a novel formulation of the Reynolds equation for magnetohydrodynamical ferrofluid-lubricated bearings with stochastic roughness. An advanced form of the Reynolds-type equation is derived on the basis of stochastic analysis. The proposed equation formulation, utilizing Stein’s Lemma to calculate variational derivatives of the pressure and magnetic field with respect to roughness variables, differs from deterministic Reynolds equations and other previously published approaches that consider surface roughness in a stochastic way. The results of the proposed methodology are compared with and validated against those found in the literature. It is applied to characterize the tribological performance of rough-surface slider and journal bearings, using ferrofluids as lubricants, over a wide range of bearing geometries, operational parameters, and magnetic properties.
Source: Journal of Tribology
DOI: 10.1115/1.4072430
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7171809960