Cavitation resistant journal bearing
A journal bearing for a gear driven pump includes a bearing body having a bearing body circular opening that defines a bearing surface along a length of the bearing body and a face plate adjacent to the bearing surface. The bearing surface is configured to carry a gear shaft load through a hydrodynamic fluid film pressure between a load surface of a gear shaft and the bearing surface. The bearing surface is formed from a leaded bronze material and the face plate is formed from a copper-nickel alloy.
1. A gear driven pump, comprising:
a first gear having a plurality of gear teeth supported for rotation on a gear shaft relative to a second gear; and
a journal bearing for carrying a gear shaft load through a hydrodynamic fluid film between a load surface of the gear shaft and a bearing surface of the journal bearing, wherein the journal bearing comprises:
a bearing body having a bearing body circular opening that forms the bearing surface along a length of the bearing body, wherein the bearing body circular opening and bearing surface are sized to receive the gear shaft and to form a hydrodynamic fluid film between load surface and bearing surface when the gear driven pump is in operation; and
a face plate adjacent to the bearing surface and configured to interface with the first gear, wherein the face plate includes a face plate circular opening sized to permit the gear shaft to be received by the bearing body circular opening and bearing surface;
wherein the face plate is formed from a cavitation resistant base material, the bearing surface is formed from a lubricating bearing material, and portions of the bearing body other than the bearing surface are made from a structural bearing material;
wherein the cavitation resistant base material is a copper-nickel alloy, the lubricating bearing material is a leaded bronze alloy and the structural bearing material is an aluminum or titanium alloy.
2. The gear driven pump of claim 1 , wherein the face plate includes a bridge that separates a fluid inlet channel from a fluid outlet channel, where the face plate is configured such that in operation a fluid is drawn from the inlet channel at a first pressure and into the outlet channel at a second pressure, where the second pressure is higher than the first pressure and the face plate is formed as a separate component from the bearing body.
3. The gear driven pump of claim 1 , wherein the copper-nickel alloy is a Cu-15 Ni-8 Sn alloy.
4. The gear driven pump of claim 1 , wherein the structural bearing material is an aluminum alloy.
5. The gear driven pump of claim 4 , wherein the wherein the copper-nickel alloy is a Cu-15 Ni-8 Sn alloy.
6. The gear driven pump of claim 1 , wherein the structural bearing material is a titanium alloy.
7. The gear driven pump of claim 6 , wherein the wherein the copper-nickel alloy is a Cu-15 Ni-8 Sn alloy.
8. A journal bearing for a gear driven pump, comprising:
a bearing body having a bearing body circular opening that defines a bearing surface along a length of the bearing body, wherein:
the bearing surface is configured to carry a gear shaft load through a hydrodynamic fluid film pressure between a load surface of a gear shaft and the bearing surface,
the bearing body circular opening and bearing surface are sized to receive the gear shaft and to form a hydrodynamic fluid film between load surface and bearing surface when the gear driven pump is in operation, and
the bearing surface is formed from a leaded bronze material; and
a face plate adjacent to the bearing surface and configured to interface with a gear on the gear shaft, wherein:
the face plate includes a face plate circular opening sized to permit the gear shaft to be received by the bearing body circular opening and bearing surface and
the face plate is formed from a copper-nickel alloy;
wherein portions of the bearing body other than the bearing surface are made from a structural bearing material, wherein the structural bearing material is an aluminum or titanium alloy.
9. The journal bearing of claim 8 , wherein the face plate includes a bridge that separates a fluid inlet channel from a fluid outlet channel, where the face plate is configured such that in operation a fluid is drawn from the inlet channel at a first pressure and into the outlet channel at a second pressure, where the second pressure is higher than the first pressure and the face plate is formed as a separate component from the bearing body.
10. The journal bearing of claim 8 , wherein the copper-nickel alloy is a Cu-15 Ni-8 Sn alloy.
11. The journal bearing of claim 8 , wherein the structural bearing material is an aluminum alloy.
12. The journal bearing of claim 11 , wherein the wherein the copper-nickel alloy is a Cu-15 Ni-8 Sn alloy.
13. The journal bearing of claim 8 , wherein the structural bearing material is a titanium alloy.
14. The journal bearing of claim 13 , wherein the wherein the copper-nickel alloy is a Cu-15 Ni-8 Sn alloy.
15. A method of making a journal bearing for a gear driven pump, the method comprising:
forming a bearing body having a bearing body circular opening that defines a bearing surface along a length of the bearing body, wherein:
the bearing surface is configured to carry a gear shaft load through a hydrodynamic fluid film pressure between a load surface of a gear shaft and the bearing surface,
the bearing body circular opening and bearing surface are sized to receive the gear shaft and to form a hydrodynamic fluid film between load surface and bearing surface when the gear driven pump is in operation, and
the bearing surface is formed from a leaded bronze material; and
forming a face plate from a copper-nickel alloy, wherein:
the face plate is adjacent to the bearing surface and is configured to interface with a gear on the gear shaft, and
the face plate includes a face plate circular opening sized to permit the gear shaft to be received by the bearing body circular opening and bearing surface;
wherein portions of the bearing body other than the bearing surface are made from a structural bearing material, wherein the structural bearing material is an aluminum or titanium alloy.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the face plate includes a bridge that separates a fluid inlet channel from a fluid outlet channel, where the face plate is configured such that in operation a fluid is drawn from the inlet channel at a first pressure and into the outlet channel at a second pressure, where the second pressure is higher than the first pressure and the face plate is formed as a separate component from the bearing body.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the copper-nickel alloy is a Cu-15 Ni-8 Sn alloy.
18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the structural bearing material is an aluminum alloy.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the wherein the copper-nickel alloy is a Cu-15 Ni-8 Sn alloy.
20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the structural bearing material is a titanium alloy.