Abstract
This paper deals with an efficient 3D modelling of a radial ball bearing to predict the operating lubrication regime under mechanical loading and mounting conditions by using the Discrete Element Method (DEM). Due to the relevance of such an approach, especially for multicontact systems, the lubrication regime associated with specific operating conditions can be predicted accurately. By means of an elastohydrodynamic lubrication formulation depending on parameters related to the size of contact area, mechanical properties of materials, roughness and fluid viscosity, the lubricant film thickness is predicted and used to take into consideration the fluid film damping effect and friction coefficient variation. The lubrication regime can be identified according to Stribeck curve with the assumption of a piezo-viscous-elastic behaviour of the lubricant. The numerical simulations performed with MULTICOR-3D software on an operating ball bearing shown that the lubrication regime at the rolling element-raceway contact can be easily monitored and quantitatively identified. To assess the efficiency of the discrete modelling, a parametric study is carried out in order to exhibit how the operating conditions affect the lubrication regimes and the fluid film spread in the loaded zone. The adequacy between the choice of lubricant and the bearing tribofinition is sought to optimize the component lifetime.
Highlights
Rolling bearings are widely used components in both industrial and domestic rotating machinery.There is a large number of bearings for all possible applications, among them radial and oblique ball bearings, roller bearings, ball and roller thrust bearings, and many others
Through this study we wanted to highlight the relevance of the Discrete Element Method (DEM) approach in describing the dynamic behaviour of multicontact systems such as rolling bearings
The implementation of the discrete model in the MULTICOR-3D software allowed us to investigate the lubrication regimes from a qualitative point of view under operating conditions
Summary
Rolling bearings are widely used components in both industrial and domestic rotating machinery. Both wear and fatigue mechanisms are quite complex and essentially dependent on operating conditions, lubricant quality associated with a good mounting and a suitable bearing design To overcome these limitations, a numerical twin of bearings, based on DEM using MULTICOR-2D software, has been developed to enable users to access outputs relative to damage initiation and to improve coupling models for monitoring [18,19]. A 3D DEM model is enriched with the phenomenological contribution of lubrication, in order to develop a monitoring tool based on an electrical measurement [21] In this sense, the lubricant consideration must remain sufficiently adapted to the scale of the apparent contact, where the competition between the metal-metal contact with asperities (resistive) and the contact through the fluid (capacitive) plays an essential role in electromechanical coupling. We summarize the contributions of this work and we end with a few thoughts on future work
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