Abstract: A virtual test of reliability was proposed to solve the wear-out failure problem of the main sliding bearing of reciprocating compressor. Equivalent stiffness was deduced from the Reynolds equation of hydrodynamic lubrication with the equivalent elastic modulus given according to Hooke law. The nonlinear FEA software ANSYS/LS-DYNA was used to develop the models of virtual prototype with the shell elements used to simulate oil film. The whole process of simulation was compiled to be a Macro program by the ANSYS parametric design language (APDL). Test sampling points of random variables were designed by central composite method and the Macro program was modified to implement the random sampling of virtual prototype. Then, the dynamic simulation was done for each and every sampling result of the prototype to get the output response data, i.e., the specific pressure of oil film. According to the response surface and testing data, an ultimate state equation was given to analyze both the reliability and sensitivity, thus providing a reference for the design of sliding bearings theoretically.