A Simulation Analysis of Ball Bearing Lubrication Characteristics Considering the Cage Clearance

Abstract

Lubrication characteristics can greatly affect the service performances of ball bearings. To further clarify the variation law of oil-air distribution in bearing cavity, a new simulation method combining the dynamic and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models is presented. The relative motion relationships between the bearing components caused by the cage clearance are obtained by the dynamic model. The coupling model uses the multi-reference frame (MRF) method and local remeshing approach (LRA) to describe the motion of each bearing component. The oil-air two-phase (OATP) flow is described though the volume of fluid (VOF) numerical model. Note that the lubricating oil content in the bearing cavity decreases significantly with the increment of rotation speed. There is a sudden change of pressure at the contact zone between the ball and inner raceway. The relative motion of ball caused by the cage clearance has some effect on the local lubrication; however, it has little effect on the overall lubrication characteristics.

Correlation between vibration and power consumption of angular contact ball bearings under structural size combinations based on nonlinear dynamic model

“…where, traction force F t and moment M t depend on the lubricated contact pressure p(x′′ n , y′′ n ) and film thickness h(x′′ n , y′′ n ) based on Eqs. ( 9) and (10), they are solved through the EHL model in [21].…”

“…Pouly et al [9] presented a thermal network model to measure the importance of hydrodynamic rolling tractions or drag losses to the temperature distributions in high-speed thrust ball bearings. Liu et al [10] considered the elasto-hydro-dynamics of a cage to analyze the relationship between cage clearance and heating characteristics for determining a critical value of cage clearance to decrease the heating. For the vibration of roller bearings, Wang et al [11] considered the structure flexible deformations of dynamic model of ball bearings to investigate the effect of structure flexible deformations on bearing dynamic properties and the variation of the shaft-bearing-housing system.…”

A dynamic model considering the time-varying friction moment of a flexible rotor system

“…In the working process of bearings, bearing friction moments can affect the relative movements and dynamic loads between the mating components (Russell and Sadeghi, 2022). The bearing friction moments are related to many factors such as the bearing parameters, lubrication conditions, manufacturing errors and so on (Liu et al, 2023;Liu and Xu, 2022;Wu et al, 2022). A study work for analyzing the effects of the friction moments on vibration characteristics of the rotor systems is helpful for reducing the unhealthy vibrations caused by the bearing friction moments.…”

“…In the working process of bearings, bearing friction moments can affect the relative movements and dynamic loads between the mating components (Russell and Sadeghi, 2022). The bearing friction moments are related to many factors such as the bearing parameters, lubrication conditions, manufacturing errors and so on (Liu et al. , 2023; Liu and Xu, 2022; Wu et al.…”

A numerical study of fatigue life in high-speed angular contact ball bearings with thermal and centrifugal expansion

“…Although these studies discuss thermal and centrifugal expansion, they lack integration with lifetime prediction models. Liu et al (2022Liu et al ( , 2023 have conducted an in-depth study of unreasonable dynamic loads and lubrication characteristics, and the fatigue life of bearings can be affected by these same factors.…”