A hydrodynamic bearing test rig was used to experimentally study the steady operating characteristics and dynamic coefficient of a plain two-axial groove journal bearing. Using two electrodynamic shakers to generate synchronous sinusoidal excitations, two small independent elliptical displacement orbits were produced for different static equilibrium positions. Data was measured for two fixed shaft speeds, while the steady load was varied to achieve Sommerfeld numbers ranging from 0.063 to 0.344. The four linearized stiffness and four linearized damping coefficients were determined for each speed-load condition by reducing the orbital data using an average magnitude and phase method. The coefficients are presented in dimensionless form as functions of the Sommerfeld number. Typical average uncertainty was found to be 12 percent for the coefficients and 8 percent for the Sommelfeld number. For the speed, load, and temperature ranges tested herein, the dynamic coefficient results for each speed agreed within the uncertainty of the data, supporting the first order approximation that, for the operating range studied, a coefficient's magnitude is independent of the absolute speed, load, and viscosity so long as the Sommerfeld number is matched. The same conclusion was reached for the steady operating location within the bearing clearance space. The overall consistency of these results also lends confidence as to their reliability. Additional experimental results presented include three sets of continuous circumferential oil film thickness and pressure profiles, and discrete temperatures.Presented as a Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers paper at the STLEIASME Tribology Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, October 24–27, 1993