Investigation of tribological and vibration characteristics of a novel embedded self-lubricating thrust roller bearing
Ruifeng Liu, Yimin Zhang, Shuzhi GaoPurpose
The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the stability, tribological properties and dynamic performance of embedded solid self-lubricating rolling bearings under special environments without lubricating oil.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper fabricates lubrication grooves with different characteristics on the surface of the shaft washer using a laser marking machine, and fills them with paraffin as the solid lubricant to construct 7 new types of embedded bearings with lubrication grooves. Friction and wear tests are carried out using a vertical universal friction and wear tester, while vibration signals are synchronously collected through an laboratory measurement system vibration acquisition system. In addition, the worn surfaces are observed with a 3D profilometer, and the complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition (CEEMD) method is used for signal analysis, aiming to investigate the influence of groove characteristics on bearing performance.
Findings
Bearings with groove depths of 0.24 mm (T6) and 0.32 mm (T7) exhibit the optimal lubrication effect, with no obvious wear or lubricant overflow. Bearings with reasonable grooves (T1, T6, T7) show significantly lower vibration acceleration amplitudes than the control group; among them, the root mean square and peak values of T7 at the end of the experiment are only 40% of those of T0.
Originality/value
This paper proposes embedding paraffin as a solid lubricating material into the grooves of thrust cylindrical roller bearings, and conducts in-depth research on the bearing’s surface characteristics, tribological and vibrational behaviors. This work provides valuable references for the research on thrust roller bearings.