A study of measurement of raceway direct measurement of rolling bearings

Abstract

Demands for improved fuel efficiency in automobiles and other vehicles have led to smaller, lighter power transmission device which result in high surface contact stress and a thin oil film, which in turn tends to cause the temperature of rolling bearings to rise. The most common temperature measurement method is to touch a thermocouple against the inner and outer rings, and this method has been used for many years. However, the method using thermocouples can only measure temperatures in a limited range near the measurement point. The authors applied the Seebeck effect, a phenomenon in which an electromotive force is generated when different metals are connected and a temperature difference is applied to bearings, to a method of measuring bearing raceway temperatures called the dynamic thermocouple method. In the dynamic thermocouple method, the average value of each contact points between the different metals generates the emf (electromotive force), so the temperature rise of all the each rolling elements in contact becomes the average value, and the exact point of temperature rise is not clear. Therefore, all but one rolling element was changed to electrically insulating zirconia balls. With this method, the contact points between many different metals became one, making it possible to identify the locations of temperature rises on the raceway surface. This method makes it possible to directly measure the temperature change of the raceway. The results of temperature measurements of the raceway surface using two types of bearings with different raceway accuracy showed a clear difference of temperature. The bearing with a poor raceway accuracy showed a temperature rise in the unloaded zone, and slippage was observed when the behavior of the rolling element was checked with a high-speed camera. Furthermore, in bearings with good raceway accuracy, the temperature of the raceway surface remained almost constant even in the non-load zone. By using the dynamic thermocouple method and observing the rolling elements with a high-speed camera, it was possible to correlate the bearing temperature rise with the behavior of the rolling elements.