Heat Generation Model of Angular Contact Ball Bearing with Oil-Air Lubrication

Angular contact ball bearings are mainly used in the spindle, which requires high speed and stiffness. The heat generation is studied by experiments and simulations using a pair of angular contact ball bearings. The temperature variation of inner and outer races and the temperature increment distribution are measured by using thermocouples for the rotational speed, preload, viscosity of lubricant. The measured values from experiments are used to estimate the heat conduction rate. The method of oil-air lubrication is used for the experiment. The amount of conduction heat transfer to the test spindle and the convection heat transfer coefficients long the spindle are computed by using inverse method with temperature increment distribution. Total heat generation rate is estimated with the heat partition rate which is calculated from temperatures of inner and outer races. In addition, the empirical factor of oil-air lubrication method for Palmgren's heat generation model is suggested. The empirical friction coefficients, which are obtained from the experiments, depend on the preload condition, and can give us more accurate estimation of the heat generation in ball bearings.