Free boundary of lubricant film in ferrofluid journal bearings

The growing interest in ferrofluid bearings is caused by their excellent self-sealing ability. The understanding of behaviour of ferrofluid film boundary adjacent to ambient air is crucial for the proper design of the sealing unit of ferrofluid bearings. This paper is the first attempt to predict the shape of a ferrofluid free boundary in the presence of a static load and magnetic field. Analysis involves simultaneous integration of the Reynolds equation and the free boundary equation using perturbation technique with respect to shaft eccentricity. Magnetic field is shown to flatten ferrofluid free boundaries as well as to reduce cavitation region; both effects diminishing lubricant leakage.