Micro Thermal Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication Analysis of Angular Contact Ball Bearing Considering Thermal Elastic Deformation

By considering the thermal elastic deformation and random surface roughness of contact surface between ball and inner race of angular contact ball bearing caused by lubricant temperature rise, a numerical method for analyzing point contact thermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication of angular contact ball bearing was proposed based on the point contact thermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication theory. According to heat transfer of thermal elastic deformation, the material line thermal expansion coefficients of contact surface between rolling ball and inner race were obtained, the thermal elastic deformation caused by lubricant temperature rise was modified. The oil film pressure, the oil film thickness, the oil film temperature rise and the thermal deformation were calculated by considering thermal elastic deformation and random surface roughness. The effects of different rotational speeds of the inner race, slide-to-roll ratios and number of rolling balls on the oil film thickness and the oil film pressure were studied. The results show that thermal elastic deformation and minimum oil film thickness were in the same order of magnitude, and the rotational speeds of the inner race, slide-to-roll ratios and number of rolling balls had profound influences on lubrication performance. Furthermore, the minimum film thickness of several algorithms was compared and analyzed, and the feasibility of the numerical algorithm considering thermal elastic deformation was verified.