I see what you mean... "Fuzzy" the "Math" easy to become :-)
Journal Bearings - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
Just some basics ^^^
Scaling and eccentricity is a factor especially for 37.5" diameter i.e. things are not linear and start to go "wonky".
low rpm vs high pressure (non-hydrostatic condition) ?
The US Navy is a good go to for that type of information but maybe with more sophisticated bearing designs and higher RPMs ?
I'd be really impressed that any one could reduce that to a simple "metric"/ rule of thumb for
a large diameter bearing with a short shaft length. There probably IS a chart out there somewhere that extends to the size and "shape" of the bearing you are dealing with that takes into account the non-linear nature when things are scaled up by that much.
@DIVEBUZZARDS what is the bearing for ? If you don't mind me asking / if you are allowed to say ?
[I have more experience with large rolling element bearing and low profile large diameter bearings … but need to get more into hydrostatic bearings + air spindles, so at some point I have to do a deep dive rather buy schtufff off the shelf.].
I may scratch around over the next few days and see what I can dig up* in terms of a
simple reduction of what is otherwise a complex calculus problem that may or may not fit very well to actual real world conditions + your actual application. (Assuming someone else doesn't beat me to it.).
Does the sleeve/ journal / bushing / bearing have any features or grooves in it at all … ?
Does it come apart in any special ways ?
Is this like industrial heritage kind of machine or something that has been in service for the better part of a century ?
Or something off a massive piece of mining or digging equipment etc. ?
Ta.
Eric
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* I'd have to dig up some old Machinery's Handbook for specifics but I don't recall such large plain bearing being mapped out ?