Considerations about the applicability of the Reynolds equation for analyzing high-speed near field levitation phenomena

Noël Brunetière (1) , Michał Wodtke (2)

1 TriboLub - Mécanique des interfaces lubrifiées [Institut Pprime]
2 GUT - Gdańsk University of Technology

This paper presents the results of investigations into the applicability of the Reynolds equation for analyzing near field levitation (NFL) phenomena. Two separate approaches were developed, experimentally verified, and applied to meet the research objective. One was based on the Reynolds equation and the other was based on general conservation equations for fluid flow solved using computational fluid dynamic (CFD). Comparing the calculation results revealed that, for certain operating conditions, differences in the predicted system parameters appear. It was proven that both the Reynolds and Helmholtz numbers define border operating conditions for the applicability of the Reynolds equation to analyze NFL problems.

Mots clés: Near field levitation; Reynolds equation; CFD; High frequencies

Domaines: Acoustique [physics.class-ph]

Noël Brunetière, Michał Wodtke. Considerations about the applicability of the Reynolds equation for analyzing high-speed near field levitation phenomena. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 2020, 483, pp.115496. ⟨10.1016/j.jsv.2020.115496⟩. ⟨hal-03036786⟩