Abstract
The migration and distribution of lubricant oil in a rolling bearing strongly affect the elastohydrodynamic lubrication performance between the balls and rings. However, oil re-lubrication is highly dependent on the bearing design, which is different from the ball-on-disc model. This study directly observed the distribution of the lubricant film in a custom-made model-bearing rig, with an outer ring replaced by a glass ring to allow full optical access. The influence of the cage type and surface properties were presented. The physical origin of the re-lubrication mechanism, including capillary flow and mechanical redistribution, was discussed.
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Acknowledgements
The project was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFB2000604), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51805031 and U1637205), and Tribology Science Fund of State Key Laboratory of Tribology (SKLTKF18A01).
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He LIANG. She received her B.S. degree in 2010 and Ph.D. degree in 2015, respectively, from Tsinghua University. She worked as a postdoc in Tribology group at Imperial College London from 2015 to 2018. She is now an assistant professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, with research interests covering fundamental of lubrication theory, tribological applications in rolling element bearings, and test method.
Yu ZHANG. He received his M.S. degree in mechanical engineering in 2019 from Beijing Institute of Technology. His research interest is the lubrication of rolling bearing, especially the experimental study of distribution of lubricating oil.
Wenzhong WANG. He received his Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from Tsinghua University, China, in 2003. He joined the School of Mechanical Engineering at Beijing Institute of Technology in 2006. His current position is a professor and director of the Department of Machine Design. His research areas cover modeling of lubricated contact problem, contact model for inhomogeneous and function gradient materials, dynamics of rolling bearing, and thermal analysis.
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Liang, H., Zhang, Y. & Wang, W. Influence of the cage on the migration and distribution of lubricating oil inside a ball bearing. Friction 10, 1035–1045 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-021-0510-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-021-0510-8