Influence of Cage Clearance on Bearing Lubrication©

Abstract

The effect of the cage clearance on the lubricant supply and elastohydrodynamic (EHL) film thickness has been studied in a ball-on-disc device. A single pocket from a standard nylon cage was mounted around the ball. The cage was instrumented so that the clearance between the cage and ball could be altered. Film thickness measurements were made with and without the cage present and for different clearances. Two lubricants were tested: a lithium hydroxystearate grease and its base oil. Film thickness was measured with increasing speed to determine the onset of lubricant starvation. Without a cage present the grease lubricated contact starved at a very low speed, typically 0.02 m/s and the film thickness dropped to a fraction of the fully flooded value. Starvation did not occur within the speed range for the base oil. The presence of the cage significantly changed the starvation response. For the base oil reducing the clearance induced starvation by locally removing the lubricant from the track. The grease gave a very different result as reducing cage clearance increased the starvation speed thus ensuring fully flooded behavior over a much greater speed range. The improvement in grease performance with the cage present is attributed to two effects. First, the cage with reduced clearance helps to redistribute the grease into the track. Second, the close conformity between cage and ball promotes shear degradation of the grease structure generating low-viscosity material, which improves replenishment.