Calculation and Lubrication Characteristics of Cylindrical Roller Bearing Oil Film with Consideration of Thermal Effects

Abstract

Aiming at the problem of how the thermal characteristics of cylindrical roller bearings affect the lubrication characteristics of bearings under actual working conditions, the influence of parameters such as speed and load on the lubrication characteristics of cylindrical roller bearings under thermal effects is analyzed. The numerical calculation method combining the quasi-static model of cylindrical roller bearing and the thermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication model is adopted. The effects of rotational speed, load and thermal effect on the lubrication performance of the bearing and the lubrication state under certain oil supply conditions were analyzed via numerical model calculation. The oil film thickness was measured via an immersion ultrasonic method to verify the correctness of the model. The results show that the larger the bearing speed, the larger the central film thickness and the minimum film thickness. At the same time, the thermal effect on the film thickness is more obvious; the greater the load, the greater the maximum oil film pressure. The film thickness gradient in the inlet region is greatly reduced, but the thermal effect has no obvious effect on the overall film thickness. In addition, there is a critical value of effective lubrication film thickness for each set of operating parameters. When the actual film thickness is equal to the critical value, the bearing lubrication state is at its best; the numerical simulation results are compared with the experimental values. Under the calculation conditions, the maximum error at the measuring point is within 10%, which meets the error requirements and provides a theoretical basis for revealing the bearing lubrication mechanism.