A novel set-up for in situ measurement and mapping of lubricant film thickness in a model rolling bearing using interferometry and ratiometric fluorescence imaging
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Chennaoui, Mourad
Fowell, Mark
Liang, He
Kadiric, Amir
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This paper describes a unique experimental set-up constructed for studies of lubricant behaviour in an operating rolling element bearing including in situ quantitative measurements of film thickness in and around the element-raceway contact. The set-up is based on a deep groove ball bearing in which the outer race is made of sapphire to allow full optical access to the zone in which the rolling elements are loaded against it. This allows direct imaging of lubricant films under both steady-state and transient conditions and at contact pressures and rotational speeds representative of those present in real rolling element bearings. Optical interferometry is used to measure thin EHL films inside the ball–raceway contacts while a specific laser induced fluorescence approach, referred to as ratiometric fluorescence, is implemented to observe the lubricant distribution and quantify its thickness ahead of the ball–raceway contact. Results are presented to validate the accuracy of the method and to investigate the influence of bulk lubricant viscosity and bearing speed on contact film thickness, inlet starvation and lubricant distribution around the ball–raceway contact. To the best of our knowledge, the work described here is the first to directly measure lubricant distribution and EHL film thickness in a ball–raceway contact in an operating radial rolling bearing.
Date Issued
2022-09-01
Date Acceptance
2022-06-06
Citation
Tribology Letters, 2022, 70 (3), pp.1-17
ISSN
1023-8883
Publisher
Springer
Start Page
1
End Page
17
Journal / Book Title
Tribology Letters
Volume
70
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000820480600001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Engineering, Chemical
Engineering, Mechanical
Engineering
Rolling bearing
Elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL)
Ratiometric laser-induced fluorescence (LIF)
Inlet film
Starvation
Ultrathin film interferometry
LASER-INDUCED FLUORESCENCE
OIL FILM
EHL
COMPLIANT
CONTACTS
Publication Status
Accepted
Article Number
ARTN 85
Date Publish Online
2022-07-01