Numerical Solution of Reynolds Equation With Slip Boundary Conditions for Cases of Large Bearing Number (Λ > 300)

The behavior of two numerical discretizations for the solution of Reynolds equation with slip boundary conditions for cases of large bearing number is described. The narrow boundary layer caused by the large bearing number is well handled by a variable grid spacing. The performance of these methods is compared against exact solutions for the ∞-wide case. It is clearly demonstrated that discretization which satisfies integral conservation is preferable to the differential procedure of finite differencing.