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Purpose This paper aims to solve the lubrication failures in the turning arm bearing of RV reducer, give some help in perfecting the bearing structure design and provide theoretical basis for the reducer’s performance improvement. Design/methodology/approach The paper establishes a mixed lubrication analysis model to study performance parameters. According to the discretization of parameters and iteration of equations, numerical simulation and theoretical analysis are achieved in computational process. Findings Considering influences of contact load, real rough surface and realistic geometry of RV reducer turning arm roller bearing, the mixed lubrication analysis model is established to study the ratio of oil film thickness, pressure distribution and maximum von Mises stress in different speeds, temperatures and fillets. The results of mixed lubrication show that reasonable round corner modification, increase in temperature and speed, decrease of surface roughness and lubricant types can improve the lubrication performance. Originality/value The mixed lubrication analysis model is established to study the influences of contact load, real rough surface and realistic geometry of RV reducer turning arm roller bearing. Different speed, temperature, lubricant and fillet modification are also considered in the research to analyze oil film thickness, pressure distribution and maximum von Mises stress. These studies can optimize structural design of bearing and direct engineer operations.

Although there have been a lot of researches about the drivers of tribofilm growth in recent years, people still argue about the real mechanism of tribofilm formation. In engineering field, plenty of mechanical components are operating under mixed lubricating condition. Therefore, it makes sense to study how tribofilm will form under mixed lubrication, which can provide further analysis on how ZDDP (Zinc dialkyl- and diaryldithiophosphates) would act as an antiwear additive to influence lubricating behavior. This paper presents a numerical model to simulate tribofilm formation process under mixed lubrication condition, considering influences of temperature and stress. In view of real surface roughness at each simulation step, the tribofilm morphology is obtained, as well as a series of lubricating parameters to study the mutual impacts between tribofilm formation and lubrication performance. It can be concluded that with the growth of tribofilm, lubricating performance will decrease to some extent, especially for low entrainment speed conditions, correlating with a noticeable shift in the Stribeck friction curve towards higher entrainment speed. Using the model developed in this paper, the assumption that tribofilm as a solid film can increase surface roughness to block the flow of lubricating fluid is evidently supported.

Although several empirical wear formulas have been proposed, theoretical approaches for predicting surface topography evolution during sliding wear are limited. In this study, we propose a novel wear-prediction method, wherein the energy-based Arrhenius equation is combined with a mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) model to predict the point-contact wear process in mixed lubrication. The surface flash temperature and contact pressure are considered in the wear model. Simulation results are compared with the experimental results to verify the theory. The surface topography evolutions are observed during the wear process. The influences of load and speed on wear are investigated. The simulation results based on the Arrhenius equation relationship shows good agreement with the results of experiments as well as the Archard wear formula. However, the Arrhenius equation is more accurate than the Archard wear theory in some aspects, such as under high-temperature conditions. The results indicate that combining the wear formulas with the mixed EHL simulation models is an effective method to study the wear behavior over time.

Surfaces of gears under combined rolling and sliding motions may suffer a complicated wear process due to the transient time-varying effect along the meshing path. In this paper, a methodology for predicting the wear of tooth surfaces is developed for the spiral bevel gears. In the wear model, the machined surface roughness, mixed lubrication, friction, flash temperature and the dynamic behavior of gears are all considered. Tooth-Contact-Analysis (TCA) method is used to get the time-varying parameters of meshing points along the meshing path. By simulating real movement process, the material is removed according to the Arrhenius equation. First, the distribution of pressure and film thickness is obtained by solving the mixed EHL model. After that, the flash temperature can be computed by the point heat source integration method with the obtained pressure, film thickness and velocity vector. The material removal is based on surface temperature and sliding distance. The numerical results are compared to the ball-on-disk experiments to demonstrate the reasonableness of the present wear model. And it shows that the angle difference between velocity vectors has strong influences on the wear profile. Furthermore, the mechanism of surface wear evolution is investigated systematically in spiral bevel gears. The difference of the wear track between the pinion and gear surfaces is observed. Besides, in the meshing process of tooth surface, the wear along the meshing path is uneven, which appears to be much greater at the engaging-in and engaging-out areas. There is a position with maximum wear rate in the meshing process, and the position is affected by the load and speed.

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Existing studies primarily focus on stiffness and damping under full-film lubrication or dry contact conditions. However, most lubricated transmission components operate in the mixed lubrication region, indicating that both the asperity contact and film lubrication exist on the rubbing surfaces. Herein, a novel method is proposed to evaluate the time-varying contact stiffness and damping of spiral bevel gears under transient mixed lubrication conditions. This method is sufficiently robust for addressing any mixed lubrication state regardless of the severity of the asperity contact. Based on this method, the transient mixed contact stiffness and damping of spiral bevel gears are investigated systematically. The results show a significant difference between the transient mixed contact stiffness and damping and the results from Hertz (dry) contact. In addition, the roughness significantly changes the contact stiffness and damping, indicating the importance of film lubrication and asperity contact. The transient mixed contact stiffness and damping change significantly along the meshing path from an engaging-in to an engaging-out point, and both of them are affected by the applied torque and rotational speed. In addition, the middle contact path is recommended because of its comprehensive high stiffness and damping, which maintained the stability of spiral bevel gear transmission.