Three-dimensional lubrication theory in viscoelastic short-bearing

Purpose – The advent of powerful digital computers has seen interest in non-Newtonian fluid mechanics moving towards the solution of complex flow problems for highly elastic liquids in situations of practical importance. Attention must be focussed on the possibility of three-dimensional flow characteristics occurring in seemingly two-dimensional flows. That is the case of the viscoelastic short-bearing. The planar Newtonian case was first studied, but because of the inlet and outlet boundary conditions it was necessary to consider the three-dimensional Newtonian case. There, due to computational difficulties and lack of certitude, it was assumed that the pressure is zero, due to cavitation, over the segment π