If one were interested in studying the frictional coefficient
of the bearing, then we must consider the variables/parameters that may influence it.
- bearing length,

- bearing diameter,

- bearing load,
- rotating speed,

- Assume that the resulting rotating speed of the bearing is the constant average speed N.
- viscosity of lubricating oil,
- clearance between bearing and journal,

- bearing moment,

- Load applied to the shaft passing through the bearing results in bearing moment.
We can therefore start our study with the assumption that the frictional coefficient of the bearing is a function of the above seven variables resulting in the function value
But,
,
and
have the same dimensions. Then,
and
are dimensionless. Therefore, if we temporarily disregard the variables
and
, then we can reduce seven variables to five.
Hence, the tentative function for the derivation is such that its value is given by
Since,
| quantity symbol | quantity name | unit (say, SI) | dimensions |
|---|---|---|---|
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pressure | ![]() |
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moment | ![]() |
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diameter | ![]() |
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viscosity | ![]() |
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speed | ![]() |
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the dimensional system for the problem is MLT-system.
We can now proceed with the steps (four) for deriving the dimensionless products.
The derivation of the dimensionless products will be based on the reduced
where
the parent function depends on the independent five variables. The generation of
the dimensional matrix is follows some preceding setup steps.
Since our problem uses MLT dimensional system
(def varpars [{:symbol "x", :quantity "mass"}
{:symbol "y", :quantity "length"}
{:symbol "t", :quantity "time"}])
We express the variables for the unknown function
as
(def manifold_eqn [{:name "term-P", :eqn {:term1 "x^(1)*y^(-1)*t^(-2)"}}
{:name "term-M", :eqn {:term1 "x^(1)*y^(2)*t^(-2)"}}
{:name "term-D", :eqn {:term1 "y^(1)"}}
{:name "term-mu", :eqn {:term1 "x^(1)*y^(-1)*t^(-1)"}}
{:name "term-N", :eqn {:term1 "t^(-1)"}}])
The dimensional formula all the terms are
=> (pprint (formula-eqn-side-manifold varpars manifold_eqn))
[{:quantity "term-P", :dimension "[M^(1)*T^(-2)*L^(-1)]"}
{:quantity "term-M", :dimension "[M^(1)*T^(-2)*L^(2)]"}
{:quantity "term-D", :dimension "[L^(1)]"}
{:quantity "term-mu", :dimension "[M^(1)*T^(-1)*L^(-1)]"}
{:quantity "term-N", :dimension "[T^(-1)]"}]
We add the above dimensional formulae into the standard_formula
=> (update-sformula (formula-eqn-side-manifold varpars manifold_eqn))
[{:quantity "volume", :dimension "[L^(3)]"}
{:quantity "frequency", :dimension "[T^(-1)]"}
{:quantity "velocity", :dimension "[L^(1)*T^(-1)]"}
{:quantity "acceleration", :dimension "[L^(1)*T^(-2)]"}
{:quantity "force", :dimension "[M^(1)*L^(1)*T^(-2)]"}
...
{:quantity "term-N", :dimension "[T^(-1)]"}
{:quantity "term-mu", :dimension "[M^(1)*T^(-1)*L^(-1)]"}
{:quantity "term-D", :dimension "[L^(1)]"}
{:quantity "term-M", :dimension "[M^(1)*T^(-2)*L^(2)]"}
{:quantity "term-P", :dimension "[M^(1)*T^(-2)*L^(-1)]"}]
(def varpars2 [{:symbol "P", :quantity "term-P"}
{:symbol "M", :quantity "term-M"}
{:symbol "D", :quantity "term-D"}
{:symbol "mu", :quantity "term-mu"}
{:symbol "N", :quantity "term-N"}])
=> (view-matrix (generate-dimmat varpars2)) [-1N 2N 1N -1N 0] [-2N -2N 0 -1N -1N] [1N 1N 0 1N 0] Size -> 3 x 5
=> (view-matrix (get-augmented-matrix (generate-dimmat varpars2))) [1N -1N 0 1N -2N] [0 -1N -1N 2N 2N] [0 1N 0 -1N -1N] Size -> 3 x 5
=> (view-matrix (solve (get-augmented-matrix (generate-dimmat varpars2)))) [1N 0N 0N 0N -3N] [0 1N 0N -1N -1N] [0 0N 1N -1N -1N] Size -> 3 x 5
=> (view-matrix (get-solution-matrix (solve (get-augmented-matrix (generate-dimmat varpars2))))) [1 0 0N -1N -1N] [0 1 -3N -1N -1N] Size -> 2 x 5
This is a 2 × 5 matrix. Therefore, two dimensionless products will be derived.
We can put all these individual steps involving matrix into one coding step such that it returns the solution matrix.
=> (def solution_matrix (get-solution-matrix
(solve
(get-augmented-matrix
(generate-dimmat varpars2)))))
=> (view-matrix solution_matrix)
[1 0 0N -1N -1N]
[0 1 -3N -1N -1N]
Size -> 2 x 5
=> (def all_dimless (get-dimensionless-products solution_matrix varpars2))
=> (pprint all_dimless)
[{:symbol "pi0", :expression "P^(1)*mu^(-1)*N^(-1)"}
{:symbol "pi1", :expression "M^(1)*D^(-3)*mu^(-1)*N^(-1)"}]
=> (get-pi-expression all_dimless "pi0")
"P^(1)*mu^(-1)*N^(-1)"
Note that these two dimensionless products are derived from the tentative function
where we temporarily disregarded
and
.
But,
and
are dimensionless. Therefore, the number of products in the complete set of dimensionless products is four.
Hence, the frictional coefficient has the value














