The start-up friction coefficient is a parameter which is very useful for engineers who design hydrodynamic bearings. It is most often issued from an approximation. Several studies can be found in the literature on this topic but most of them are concerned with air bearings or are only numerical. Some studies are more general and deal with the transient thermal behaviour in journal bearings as well as in thrust bearings. Other studies deal with the friction coefficient during running, at a fixed rotational speed. The aim of this study is to provide experimental measurements of the bush torque during start-up of plain journal bearings, varying the specific pressure. Thus, the friction coefficient at start-up (deduced from measurements) is obtained for four different bearings varying feeding conditions, radial clearance and length.
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