Abstract: The finite element method and finite difference method are employed to establish the model for considering the three dimensional elastic deformations of pad and thermal effects in a tilting pad journal bearing. The effects of the three dimensional pad deformations on the thermohydrodynamic performance of large scale tilting pad journal bearing with non uniformly and closely packed pad pivot distributions at small pad wrap span are analyzed in detail. The results show that the pad deformations have considerable effects on both the static performance and the dynamic characteristics under the large scale and the low speed and heavy duty conditions.