Investigation of Oil–Air Flow and Temperature for High-Speed Ball Bearings by Combining Nonlinear Dynamic and Computational Fluid Dynamics Models

Abstract

An improved nonlinear dynamic model of high speed ball bearings with elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) is adopted to predict the movements of balls and power loss of ball bearings for defining the boundary conditions of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. Then, this method of combining nonlinear dynamic and CFD models is are validated through the experimental verification. Subsequently, oil-air flow and temperature distribution inside the bearing chamber are studied at low and high speeds, and light and heavy loads. The effect of nozzle's position on the formation of oil film and heat dissipation is revealed under combined loads. The research results provide a theoretical basis for engineering application of high speed rolling bearings.

Predicting Friction of Tapered Roller Bearings with Detailed Multi-Body Simulation Models

“…Most of these models have been developed for specific problems [39][40][41][42][43][44][45]. Other studies using dynamic simulation models use simplified friction calculations and focus on structural deformation or vibration analysis [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57]. Therefore, their use in general problems could lead to unreliable results.…”

An efficient thermal model for high-speed angular contact ball bearings based on oil-air two-phase flow and gray-box model

“…Oil–air lubrication, compared with oil bath, oil mist, oil spray and splash lubrication, is a more efficient way to reduce friction and temperature in view of its higher lubricating efficiency and much less oil consumption, and thus is widely employed in lubricating high-speed support bearings (Gao et al , 2021). Parker and Signer (1997) introduced the lubricant scale factor to investigate the influence of oil–air mixture on the heat dissipation of bearings; Li et al (2018) discussed the effect of air inlet flow rate on the flow uniformity in bearing cavities; Yan et al (2021) applied the field synergy principle to explain the fluid flow and lubrication in bearings, and then compared the temperature variation with different oil–air supply methods; Peterson et al (2021) simulated the fluid field of deep groove ball bearings by CFD; Deng et al (2022) combined nonlinear dynamic and CFD models to explore the oil–air flow and temperature distribution inside bearing chambers; with the coupled level set volume of fluid method and 3D finite element model, Bao et al (2021) investigated the oil–air two-phase flow characteristics with under-race lubrication, and then analyzed the influence of various factors on the oil volume fraction inside ball bearings.…”