An efficient thermal model for high-speed angular contact ball bearings based on oil-air two-phase flow and gray-box model
Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
ISSN: 0036-8792
Article publication date: 20 October 2023
Issue publication date: 22 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
For a lightweight and accurate description of bearing temperature, this paper aims to present an efficient semi-empirical model with oil–air two-phase flow and gray-box model.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the role of lubricant/coolant in bearing temperature was discussed separately, and the gray-box models on the heat convection inside a bearing cavity were also created. Next, the bearing node setting scheme was optimized. Consequently, a novel semi-empirical two-phase flow thermal grid for high-speed angular contact ball bearings was planned. With this model, the thermal network for the selected motored spindle was built, and the numerical solutions for bearing temperature rise were obtained and contrasted with the experimental values for validation. The polynomial interpolation on test data, meanwhile, was also performed to help us observe the temperature change trend. Finally, the simulations based on the current models of bearings were implemented, whose corresponding results were also compared with our research work.
Findings
The validation result indicates that the thermal prediction is more accurate and efficient when the developed semi-empirical oil–air two-phase flow model is employed to assess the thermal change of bearings. Clearly, we provide a more proper model for the thermal assessment of bearing and even spindle heating.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper introduced the oil–air separation and gray-box model for the first time to describe the heat exchange inside bearing cavities and accordingly presents an efficient semi-empirical oil–air two-phase flow model to evaluate the bearing temperature variation by using thermal network method.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-06-2023-0180/
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No.52265064) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province, China (No.20212BAB204033).
Conflict of interest: The work presented in this thesis is, to the beat of my knowledge and belief, original, except as acknowledged in the text, and the material has not been submitted, either in whole or in part, to any journal. No conflict of interest exists in the submission of this manuscript, and manuscript is approved by all authors for publication.
Statement of originality: The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original, except as acknowledged in the text, and the material has not been submitted, either in whole or in part, to any journal.
Citation
Zheng, D.-X. and Zheng, D. (2023), "An efficient thermal model for high-speed angular contact ball bearings based on oil-air two-phase flow and gray-box model", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 75 No. 10, pp. 1199-1207. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-06-2023-0180
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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