Starvation and Re-lubrication in Oscillating Bearings: Influence of Grease Parameters

verfasst von

Sebastian Wandel, Norbert Fritz Bader, Jakob Glodowski, Bela Jannis Lehnhardt, Johan Leckner, Fabian Schwack, Gerhard Poll

Abstract

A common application for grease-lubricated oscillating rolling element bearings is, e.g., rotor blade bearings in wind turbines. These bearings mainly operate under conditions that are prone to starvation. If the grease is unable to provide enough inlet lubricant supply for the contact between rolling element and bearing raceway, wear in the form of False Brinelling and thus premature bearing failure is possible. Bearing experiments with different lithium complex model greases, which differ mainly in their base oil viscosity and oil separation rate, were carried out to show the influence of the grease parameters on wear initiation. The results show that the ability of the grease to release a high amount of base oil with high mobility into the track of the rolling element is a crucial mechanism to prevent wear, especially at small oscillation angles. For oscillation angles larger than a critical angle, a secondary replenishment mechanism may prevent early wear initiation. The experimental results are used to validate a starvation model proposed in earlier work (Wandel et al. in Tribol Int 165:107276, 2022).

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Maschinenkonstruktion und Tribologie

Externe Organisation(en)

Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
Axel Christiernsson International AB

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Tribology Letters

Band

70

ISSN

1023-8883

Publikationsdatum

2022

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Werkstoffmechanik, Maschinenbau, Oberflächen, Beschichtungen und Folien, Oberflächen und Grenzflächen

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-022-01655-7 (Zugang: Offen)