Lubricant Replenishment in Rolling Bearing Contacts

It is generally assumed that starved lubricated contacts in rolling element bearings are replenished by side flow. The rolling elements partly push the lubricant to the side of the contacts after which the re-flow will provide fresh lubricant for the next rolling element. This re-flow is driven by surface tension and restricted by the viscosity. Hence, thick oils or greases may yield problems here, which is generally observed in practice. This paper quantifies this re-flow by means of a numerical model using a so-called thin layer/film assumptions. The results here show that this form of replenishment may happen to some extent in single contacts but for sure not in rolling element bearings. There are two reasons for this: the time between successive overrollings is too short and secondly, the centrifugal effects on the inner ring will drive the flow in a vertical direction rather than transversely. This applies to cylindrical roller bearings (CRB)-type of surfaces. This may be different for tapered or spherical bearings, which should be the topic of future research.     

Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication in Extended Parameter Ranges — Part I: Speed Effect

Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication (EHL) has been given great attention in the last 40 years. Conventional theories by Dowson and Higginson for line contacts and Hamrock and Dowson for point contacts have been among the most important contributions and widely used in industries. However, commonly used film thickness formulae, developed more than 25–40 years ago when the computational power was very limited, were originally from curve-fitting based on limited numbers of numerical solutions obtained in relatively narrow parameter ranges. Actual operating conditions in typical engineering applications, such as gears, bearings, cams and traction drives, sometimes fall far outside those parameter ranges, and prediction through extrapolation is often difficult to give satisfactory results. As the computer technology and numerical simulation methods have been advancing greatly, one can now analyze cases in extended parameter ranges that cover various practical applications under severe conditions. This paper is Part I of a recent study, focusing on the speed effect on the EHL film thickness. In a relatively narrow speed range, the present results agree well with those from the conventional theory. In the extended speed and load ranges, however, the relationship between the film thickness and the rolling speed may no longer obey the simple power law described by the conventional theory. It appears to be a complicated function of speed, load and contact ellipticity. Commonly used formulae may often overestimate the film thickness especially when the load is heavy and the speed is not high.     

Elastohydrodynamic Film Thickness Mapping by Computer Differential Colorimetry

This paper describes a new experimental technique for the study of elastohydrodynamic (EHD) lubricant films. This technique, which is based on the computer processing of EHD chromatic interferograms, uses a combination of image analysis and differential colorimetry for film thickness evaluation. This approach overcomes some major limitations of conventional optical interferometry and allows the precise mapping of lubricant film thickness distribution in EHD contacts, including transient and quasistatic phenomena. The technique has been used for the evaluation of chromatic interference patterns obtained from a conventional optical test rig for rolling point contacts. Three-dimensional representations of lubricant film thickness and shape with high accuracy and spatial resolution have been obtained. The technique's accuracy has been checked and a comparison with conventional monochromatic interferometry has been done for validation. The technique's resolution has been confirmed through the observation of local film thickening just before the EHD exit constriction for both pure rolling and sliding conditions.     

Particle Damage in Hertzian Contacts and Life Ratings of Rolling Bearings

Particle denting, and contamination marks found on bearing raceways, can induce stress concentrations and facilitate surface initiated fatigue. The lubricant film developed at the dent and related local surface stresses are also significant to the crack initiation mechanism. In this article, a new methodology is presented to link the micro-EHL film and related local stresses to the fatigue life of rolling bearings. The applied methodology is based on Fourier analysis of the harmonic components of the surface microgeometry to predict stresses and induced lubricant film. The application of this method to actual bearing surfaces is discussed and analyzed in relation to some existing microcontact EHL solutions. A global evaluation of the use of the method to rolling bearings dynamic load ratings is also carried out. A comparison between experimentally obtained rolling bearing life and lives predicted using the present theory indicate the global ability of the model to describe the effect of the lubrication quality on the life expectancy of rolling contacts. From this analysis, an assessment of some typical equations used in rolling bearing dynamic ratings is carried out. It is found that the degree of lubrication of the rolling contact and the cleanliness conditions of the oil are indeed significant to the prediction of the life expectancy of the bearing.     

A Dual Experimental/Numerical Approach for Film Thickness Analysis in TEHL Spinning Skewing Circular Contacts

Studies on the behaviour of rolling bearings show that the position as well as the loading of the rolling element at the flange roller-end contact depends on the momentum created on the roller track caused by local friction variability. This situation is characterized by a skew angle that varies within a limited range in the application influenced also by the clearance in the cage pockets. This paper provides some elements which contribute to increase the understanding of the physical phenomena occurring in lubricated spinning contacts under skew. An experimental investigation is carried out using a unique in-house test rig called Tribogyr, dedicated to large size-contacts with spinning and skewing kinematics. Alongside the experiments, a numerical analysis is conducted, based on a finite element approach, aiming to take into account the multiphysics aspect of this thermo-elastohydrodynamic problem. The model and the experiments show a good agreement. The skew effects on film thickness of spinning flange/roller-end contacts are characterized by a global decrease of central film thickness, mainly due to high shear of the lubricant, involving thermal thinning. The shallow dimple captured by the in situ measurements of film thickness can be explained as a consequence of the viscosity wedge due to different thermal conductivities between glass and steel. The dual experimental–theoretical approach was a useful method that help to study separate phenomena which are naturally coupled each other.     

A survey of applications of ehl on machine elements

Concentrated contacts in motion are found in most mechanical machines. The elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication (ehl) theory deals with the lubrication of moving concentrated contacts. The first important successful application of ehl was to rolling contact bearings. The theory can today be used by designers for optimizing bearing design and predicting bearing life, power loss, temperature and dynamic behaviour. The application of ehl to gearing is more complicated. The simplified film thickness calculation methods for gears offer a practical way of making a rough estimation of the risk of failure. Methods for calculating the film thickness in the difficult transient contact conditions and along the gear contact have recently been developed. The application of ehl to the transient conditions in a cam and tappet contact is promising but needs more work. To achieve better methods for the design of lubricated concentrated contacts, a better understanding of microgeometry and thermal and chemical effects in the contact is required     

On Mechanisms of Fatigue Life Enhancement by Surface Dents in Heavily Loaded Rolling Line Contacts

This paper studies mechanisms of surface dents in enhancing the fatigue life of rolling bearings previously reported in Akamatsu et al. (1). First, transient micro-EHL analyses of heavily loaded contacts between rough surfaces with multiple dents are conducted under near rolling conditions. Contacts with various dent dimensions, dent arrangements under different loading and kinematic conditions are investigated. Results show that surface dents generate no favorable micro-EHL effects to enhance the contact fatigue life. Subsequent analyses, in conjunction with other published studies, suggest that the fatigue life enhancement likely comes from the reduced local traction at asperity contacts through the “oil pots” effects of the dents. The effects of the surface dents on contact fatigue life may depend on the lubrication regime in which the contact is operating being favorable in poor lubrication conditions but adverse in well-lubricated contacts. Since rolling bearings are usually designed to operate in a healthy regime of lubrication, fatigue life enhancement by artificially introducing dents on bearing surfaces may not extend to field applications.     

New Stress-Based Fatigue Life Models for Ball and Roller Bearings

New stress-based life models are introduced to define “dynamic stress capacity” in rolling bearings for the first time. The generalized stress capacity equations are formulated, for both point and line contacts, in terms of distinct geometrical and materials parameters while the empirical constants are now material independent. Life equations are first developed for individual rolling element to race contacts and then statistically combined to estimate lives of both races, rolling elements, and, finally, the whole bearings for both ball and roller bearings. An estimate of the empirical constant for the ball bearing equation is derived by regression analysis of available experimental data. The applicable constant for roller bearings is then derived by relating the ball and roller bearing constants to the fundamental subsurface fatigue hypothesis applicable to both point and line contacts. For AISI 52100 bearing steel at room temperature, life predictions with the new stress-based equations are in complete agreement with those currently provided by widely used load-based formulations, where the empirical constant contains the elastic properties of AISI 52100 bearing steel. In addition to these life equations based on the magnitude and depth of maximum orthogonal subsurface shear stress and the volume of material stressed, a new model that eliminates life dependence on the depth of maximum orthogonal shear stress and relates life to only the subsurface maximum shear stress and the stressed volume is presented. Though the predicted life estimates with the currently used and newly introduced life models are comparable in the contact stress range of 2 to 3 GPa, the new model provides significantly higher lives at low contact stresses.     

Asymptotic analysis of a lubricated heavily loaded spinning and rolling ball in a parabolic raceway

In the paper, the previously developed asymptotic approach to solution of the steady isothermal problem of elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) for heavily loaded point contacts is applied to a lubricated point contact with rolling and spinning. It is shown that the whole contact region can be subdivided into three subregions. The central region can be subdivided into the Hertzian region and two adjacent boundary layers — the inlet and exit zones. The main results of the paper are threefold: (i) it is shown that in the central parts of the inlet and exit zones, the mechanisms and the equations controlling the behaviour of the lubrication contact parameters in heavily loaded point and line EHL contacts are identical, (ii) asymptotically precise formulas for the central and exit lubrication film thickness for pre‐critical and over‐critical starved and fully flooded lubrication regimes are analytically derived, and (iii) the inlet and exit zone asymptotically valid equations are uniform across all steady heavily loaded line and point EHL contacts for lubricants with the same rheology. These asymptotically valid equations were analysed and numerically solved in previously published work based on the stable methods utilising the specific regularisation approach developed for lubricated line contacts. Cases of pre‐critical and over‐critical lubrication regimes are considered. The formulas for the lubrication film thickness for pre‐critical and over‐critical starved and fully flooded lubrication regimes allow for simple analysis of the film thickness as a function of spinning angular speed, angle of the entrained lubricant and other pertinent contact characteristics. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A New Roughness Parameter Including Hardness and Contact Frequency Effects on Lubricated Rolling/Sliding Wear

Surface roughness, roughness arrangement, film thickness, material hardness, and run-in process have significant effects on the lubricated rolling/sliding wear of mechanical components such as gears and bearings. In conventional analysis, a film thickness parameter is calculated by a geometric approach to study the wear resistance of a contact system without considering the effects of material hardness and run-in process. Although the conventional parameter is simple, it does not correlate with some experimental observations. In this work, a new roughness parameter is developed for the prediction of lubricated rolling/sliding wear. Surface roughness will be adjusted by its hardness and contact frequency. The calculation results are consistent with four groups of experimental data. It is proved that the conventional models can be derived as a special case of the new model when two contact surfaces have the same properties. The new model can be used in the optimal design and manufacturing of mechanical interfaces to reduce lubricated rolling/sliding wear.     

An Investigation of Lubricant Film Thickness in Sliding Compliant Contacts

An optical interferometric technique has been used to investigate fluid film thickness in sliding, isoviscous elastohydrodynamic contacts (I-EHL). Monochromatic two-beam interferometry has been employed to map lubricant film thickness across a range of applied loads and entrainment speeds. The contact was formed between an elastomer sphere and plain glass disc, illuminated under red light, λ= 630 nm. Experimental work has employed sunflower oil and glycerol/water solutions as the test lubricants, due to their similar refractive indices and varying viscosity. A black-and-white-image-intensified camera has been employed to capture interference images and a computer processing technique used to analyse these images, pixel by pixel, and create film thickness maps based on their gray-scale intensity representations. Comparison of film thickness results to theoretical models shows reasonable qualitative agreement. Experimental results show both a reduced horseshoe, which is limited to the rear of the contact, and wedge-shaped film thickness profile within the Hertzian contact region. This is unlike conventional hard EHL contacts where the horseshoe-shaped pressure constriction extends around the contact toward the inlet. Experimental results suggest that film thickness profiles take on a convergent wedge shape similar to that used in many hydrodynamic bearings. It is likely that this wedge is largely responsible for generating fluid pressure and therefore the load-carrying capacity of the contact.     

Fatigue Failure and Ball Bearing Friction

According to the standard method for calculation of life ratings for rolling contact bearings, failure is considered to occur at the initiation of the first spall in a rolling component surface. While this is acceptable for most bearing applications, in many applications bearing operation may effectively continue for a period of time during which spoiling progresses. As spoiling progresses, bearing friction and vibratory loading increase, eventually resulting in bearing seizure and mechanism failure. To estimate the amount of operating time available for corrective action; i.e., mechanism shutdown and bearing replacement, between initial spoiling and potential mechanism failure, an investigation into the friction occurring in a spalled-unspalled concentrated point contact was conducted using a ball/v-ring test rig to generate and progress spalls and a ball-disk rig to test traction. It was thereby determined for a spalled ball-raceway) contact, that a lubricant film of thickness sufficient to adequately “separate” the contacting surfaces can occur: With continuous ample supply of fluid lubricant, measured traction coefficients were only slightly greater than would be expected for unfailed contacts. Using the experimental results, an empirically based mathematical model was developed to estimate ball-raceway traction as a function of degree of spalling. These data will subsequently be used in ongoing studies to estimate rate of spall progression in bearing applications.     

Oscillations induced in EHD film thickness by a step in entrainment speed

Transient elastohydrodynamic (EHD) lubrication conditions occur in the contacts of many machine elements, such as gears, cams, and reciprocating devices, as a result of their working cycles. These conditions also occur in rolling‐element bearings at the onset or cessation of motion. The aspect of film thickness in elastohydrodynamically lubricated contacts subjected to a very rapid change in entrainment speed has not received much attention from researchers, probably because it is seen as less problematic than a sudden fall of the entrainment speed, which theoretically can lead to film failure. For a sudden stop, however, it has been shown previously that the lubricant forms an entrapment, which is able to protect the contact in many cases when the motion resumes. In this paper, EHD film behaviour under sudden acceleration is investigated; the study covers three cases ‐ starting from zero film, starting from an entrapped film, and starting from a continuous, steady film.     

循环冲击载荷作用下滚滑轴承滚子的润滑特性研究

为探究冲击载荷对滚滑轴承润滑性能的影响,设计一种轮子扁疤系统,以模拟轴承受到的循环冲击载荷,利用数值分析法对比研究冲击载荷作用下滚滑轴承的润滑特性及不同工况对滚滑轴承滚子润滑的影响。结果表明:滚滑轴承的滚子润滑受冲击载荷的影响小于滚动轴承;冲击载荷发生前,滚滑轴承滚子油膜有高于油膜中心压力的第二峰值压力,油膜出口区有明显缩颈现象,随冲击载荷的增大,第二峰值压力虽会逐渐减小,但不会消失;冲击载荷频率越大,最小油膜厚度越大,冲击载荷幅值越大,滚子油膜厚度越薄;滚子油膜厚度随润滑油黏度、转速的增加而增加。     

An Experimental and Theoretical Study of Hybrid Bearing Micropitting Performance under Reduced Lubrication

Hybrid bearings—that is, bearings with ceramic rolling elements and steel rings—are often used in applications with reduced (i.e., boundary or mixed) lubrication conditions. The mechanisms by which hybrid bearings perform significantly better than full-steel ones in these cases are so far unclear, although a number of published works have shown experimental results in which appreciable performance benefits were obtained by the use of hybrid bearings under boundary or mixed lubrication. In this article, the reduced lubrication performance of hybrid rolling contacts, versus full-steel ones, is studied in detail by means of rolling bearing fatigue experiments and a theoretical micropitting model. It is found that the large improvement in surface fatigue resistance of hybrid contacts cannot be explained solely on the basis of the unavoidable differences in some of the roughness parameters existing between the full-steel and hybrid contacts. It is also necessary to take into account a considerable reduction in the effective boundary friction coefficient of the hybrid contact. In the numerical micropitting simulations it was found that the boundary friction coefficient of a hybrid contact must be about two times lower than that for the corresponding full-steel contact, in order to be able to predict the experimental observations reasonably well. A similar ratio of the boundary friction coefficients was obtained in a number of dedicated tests, thus confirming the results of the micropitting model. The mechanisms of the strong micropitting resistance of hybrid bearings under reduced lubrication conditions are discussed in detail, shedding new light on the operational tribology and performance capabilities of bearings with rolling elements made of silicon nitride ceramics.     

The Film Behaviors of Grease in Point Contact During Microoscillation

Microoscillation is a typical case of transient motion, which occurs in many machine elements, including rolling or sliding element bearings, cams, and gears. Wear is easy to occur on the surface of such elements, particularly at the end point of the stroke, where the surfaces are momentarily static. In the present work, an experimental investigation is conducted to explore the grease film behavior of point contact lubrication during microoscillation in the case of pure rolling or pure sliding. The technique of relative optical interference intensity was used to monitor the variation of the grease film thickness and the motion of the grease in the contact area through analyzing the captured interferograms. Experimental results indicate that a crescent-shaped grease film can form along the motion direction in the contact area under microoscillation. The grease film is formed in the inlet region, and the film thickness remains while moving in the Hertzian contact area. In the case of pure rolling, the crescent-shaped grease film and the initial entrapped grease film are carried by a tow effect of moving interfaces in the contact area. However, in the case of pure sliding, there are relative motions in the sliding direction at the two interfaces of the grease/ball and the grease/disk in the Hertzian contact area. The shape of the entrapped grease remains almost unchanged while moving in the Hertzian contact area. During the repetition of microoscillations, the crescent-shaped grease film thickness drops gradually.     

Particle Entrapment in Hybrid Lubricated Point Contacts

This study proposes an innovative approach for the study of particle entrapment in rolling element bearings (REBs). Two couples of contacting materials were considered, the classical steel–steel and silicon nitride–steel used in hybrid bearings. Numerical simulations, as well as experiments, combine theoretical trajectories for incoming contaminant particles and effective entrapment ratios observed within a twin-disc machine. Linking both approaches allows the highlighting of some key parameters leading to particle entrapment under pure rolling conditions in elastohydrodynamic point contacts.     

Experimental results and analytical film thickness predictions in EHD rolling point contacts

In this work, we consider several types of lubricants—including non-Newtonian fluids—that were studied in EHD pure rolling point contacts under various operating conditions, leading us to explore a wide range of dimensionless parameters. The experimental results are compared with predictions given by the usual analytical EHL relationships and by more recently developed models. This broad comparison conducted with particular emphasis on minimum film thickness (h_m) showed a fair agreement between experimental data and a few predictions including some obtained from extended models. Commonly used elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) models did not systematically give accurate h_m estimation, whereas minimum film thickness not only is a yield value but also serves as a key parameter in estimating lubrication regimes.     

Thermal effect in hydrodynamic lubrication of line contacts-Piezoviscous effect neglected

Thermal effect in high-speed rolling element bearings has been investigated numerically following a computationally efficient method developed by Elrod and Brewe [11. Viscous shear heating effects on both film thickness and rolling friction are investigated for a line-contact geometry assuming fully flooded lubrication. Thermal load-carrying capacity and rolling friction of the line contact have been numerically calculated for varying rolling speeds from 5 to 40 m/s and dimensionless film thickness between 10⁻⁴ and 10⁻³. Results indicate marked influence of viscous shear heating on the load-carrying capacity, film thickness and rolling traction at high rolling speeds. Neglecting thermal effect at high rolling speeds would lead to gross overestimation of load capacity, film thickness and traction. Results are presented for pressure and temperature distribution within the contact for various rolling speeds and film thicknesses.     

基于产品特征的自润滑关节轴承滚压技术研究

通过对轴承滚压安装工艺和质量控制的分析,建立了自润滑关节轴承滚压收口有限元模型,利用ABAQUS分析轴承外圈唇边的形成过程并进行了试验验证,结果表明:当轴承座内孔处厚度比轴承外圈厚度小0.1～0.2 mm,倒角为外圈V形槽深度的0.6～0.7时,轴承滚压收口质量最好.