Past exam of the theoretical mechanics course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 4 ii Solution 2026-10-31
Integrate once and use to obtain . The two zero endpoint pressures determineConsequentlyThe constant is a weighted average of with positive weight , so . Since decreases strictly, changes sign exactly once, from positive to negative. Thus the unique maximum is atFor small , , so . The exponential-gap slider bearing provides a particularly simple example where a converging gap produces positive load-bearing pressure.