| Abstract: | The spherical roller bearings, used to support the drier rolls in paper machines, experience premature failure in which external heating and water contamination of the lubricant have been implicated. An apparatus was designed, built and commissioned to simulate the conditions acting on these bearings. A pilot study was performed to examine the effect of the external heating on lubricant film thickness and ultimately on bearing failure. The amount of surface damage sustained by the test bearings increased as the estimated lambda parameter decreased. Furthermore, oil deposit formation was similar to that reported in the literature for drier roll bearings, thereby supporting the validity of the experimental simulation. |
