Particle Entrapment in Rolling Element Bearings: The Effect of Ellipticity, Nature of Materials, and Sliding

International audienceThis study on particle entrapment within elastohydrodynamic contacts reports experimental tests mimicking rolling element bearings contacts using a twin-disc machine with a contaminated lubricant as well as numerical simulations. The ball bearing contacts might be non-ideally circular, be composed of a hybrid couple of contact materials and be operated under rolling–sliding conditions. This study focused on the relative importance of each of these configurations to the mechanisms responsible for particle entrapment. It was found experimentally and confirmed numerically that the contact ellipticity is of primary importance to entrapment probability. Tests mixing two-by-two pure rolling and non-zero SRR, different materials and contact configurations revealed combined mechanisms leading to entrapment and surface damage

Particle Entrapment in Hybrid Lubricated Point Contacts

International audienceThis study proposes an innovative approach for the study of particle entrapment in rolling element bearings (REBs). Two couples of contacting materials were considered, the classical steel–steel and silicon nitride–steel used in hybrid bearings. Numerical simulations, as well as experiments, combine theoretical trajectories for incoming contaminant particles and effective entrapment ratios observed within a twin-disc machine. Linking both approaches allows the highlighting of some key parameters leading to particle entrapment under pure rolling conditions in elastohydrodynamic point contacts