Abstract
Here, we developed a technique to assess the workability of sealed-for-life greased rolling bearings after a long-term storage. In this framework, we devised a model of equivalent transition between the conditions of natural ageing under daily and seasonally fluctuating temperature, and the conditions of accelerated thermal ageing at a constant high temperature. The tested bearings were thermally aged, and then their steady state friction and outer ring temperature were examined in a custom high-speed spindle. These results were compared to the performance of a reference new bearing tested under the same loading conditions. Our findings suggest that long-term storage can significantly degrade the performance of sealed-for-life greased rolling bearings. However, a proper running-in can substantially deter the ageing-driven degradation of the bearings.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Ofer Gutman, Alexey Tsipenyuk and Gil Halevi for their help in experimental part of this work. We acknowledge the support of the Israeli Ministry of Defence-MAFAT to M. V. The bearings for tests were donated by The Barden Corporation (UK).
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Michael VARENBERG. He has received his Ph.D degree in mechanical engineering from Technion- Israel Institute of Technology in 2004. He joined the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech in 2014. He is currently an assistant professor and the head of Tribology & Surface Engineering Lab. His research areas cover friction and wear of engineering surfaces, micro/nano tribology, bionic tribology, tribological instrumentation, and contact mechanics.
Yuri KLIGERMAN. He received his D.Sc degree in mechanical engineering from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in 1997. He was with Surface Technologies Ltd., Haifa, where he was responsible for developing analytical models for tribological components with laser-textured surfaces. Since 2000, he has been a laboratory engineer with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Technion. Dr. Kligerman is an adjunct senior teaching fellow. He teaches in courses on theory of elasticity and contact mechanics. Dr. Kligerman has coauthored 48 scientific papers. He participated in a scientific guidance of 25 graduate students. His current research interests include hydrodynamiclubrication, surface texturing, contact mechanics, adhesive friction, and bio-tribology.
Grigory HALPERIN. He received his Ph.D degree in mechanical engineering from Saratov State Agrarian University in 1972. He joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in 1992 and served as a senior tribologist until he retired in 2016. His research area covered all aspects of experimental tribology, with a particular interest in friction, lubrication and wear of engineering surfaces, laser surface texturing, and tribological instrumentation.
Saad NAKAD. He received his B.Sc and M.Sc degrees in mechanical engineering from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in 2009 and 2015, respectively. During his M.Sc studies, he joined the Tribology Laboratory as a research assistant. He joined MotoRad LTD as an R&D and validation laboratory manager in the field of automotive advanced engine and thermal management in 2014. In 2018 he joined Lumenis Medical Devices as a product leader.
Haytam KASEM. He received his M.S degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Haute Alsace in Mulhouse, France, in 2004. He received his Ph.D degree in tribology of composite materials from the University of Orleans, France, in 2008. He joined the Tribology Laboratory at Technion, Israel, in 2012 and the Azrieli College of Engineering in Jerusalem, Israel, in 2013. His current position is an assistant professor. His research areas cover the tribology of bionic microstructures, biotribology, mechano-chemical surface treatment and tribology of friction brakes.
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Varenberg, M., Kligerman, Y., Halperin, G. et al. Assessing workability of greased bearings after long-term storage. Friction 7, 489–496 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-018-0255-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-018-0255-1