Objectives  This paper studies the dynamic and tribological characteristics of the main journal bearing, and the coupling relationship between them.

  Methods  First, a dynamic model of the coupling tribological properties of a bearing wear test bed is established using the substructure method. The friction power consumption and orbital paths of the bearing are then calculated and compared with the measured results to verify the accuracy of the model. Finally, based on the model, the dynamic and tribological coupling analyses of the bearing are carried out.

  Results  The results show that the four support bearings of the test bed are in a state of hydrodynamic lubrication, while the tested bearing is in a state of mixed lubrication at the top dead center. With the increase in radial clearance, the minimum oil film thickness of the tested bearing increases first and then decreases, and the most optimal lubrication state can be obtained when the tested bearing clearance is about 20 μm. Compared with the oil film model of a nonlinear spring, the elastohydrodynamic model can provide bearing load and friction power consumption results with higher accuracy.

  Conclusions   The results of this study can provide theoretical guidance for the lubrication performance design and high-precision modeling of bearing pairs.