Effects of oil-air lubrication methods on the internal fluid flow and heat dissipation of high-speed ball bearings

Abstract High precision models were established to investigate airflow pattern and lubrication performance inside bearing cavity with different oil-air supply methods. The coupling technique of Level-Set function and VOF method was used to track the oil-air interface, and the migration and diffusion process of oil droplets inside bearing cavity were obtained. A high-speed oil-air lubrication test rig was designed and set up, bearing temperature rise with outer ring and lateral oil-air lubrication methods at different rotation speeds were tested and compared. Finally, combined with the internal flow and temperature field distribution, the synergistic analysis was applied and the lubricant flow and heat dissipation performance of bearing internal cavity and key areas were all estimated.