A variational principle for the system of P.D.E. of porous metal bearings

Abstract

Porous metal bearings are widely used in small and micro devices. To compute the pressure one has to solve the Reynolds equation coupled with the Laplace equation. We show that it is possible to give to the relevant boundary value problem a variational formulation. We show that the pressure inside a porous bearing is less then that of the corresponding non-porous bearing.