A Study on the Wear Characteristics of a Point Contact Pair of Angular Contact Ball Bearings Under Mixed Lubrication

Under mixed lubrication, the macro size is affected by the wear of the surface roughness peaks, which results in degradation of the bearing accuracy. To study the wear characteristics of rolling bearings under mixed lubrication, based on the elastohydrodynamic lubrication theory and Archard wear model, and considering the coupling of the oil film and roughness, a wear prediction model of angular contact ball bearings under mixed lubrication was established, and the influence of the working parameters and hardness on bearing wear was analyzed. The results show that the wear depth of the outer grove increases with an increase in the load, or a decrease in the rotational speed or the initial viscosity of lubricating oil. The load has the most significant effect on the wear depth of the outer grove. There is a critical value for the load, rotational speed, and initial viscosity of the lubricating oil, which varies with the parameters of other working conditions and the hardness of the materials. When the increase in load exceeds the critical value or the rotational speed and initial viscosity of lubricating oil are less than the critical value, the outer groove fails because the wear depth exceeds the critical value of wear depth. The ratio of the load on the rolling element to the hardness of the outer grove at different entrainment speeds and initial viscosities of lubricating oil can be used to predict the wear degree of the outer grove. When the ratio is greater than a certain threshold, the outer grove is faulted owing to wear, and the threshold decreases with an increase in the initial viscosity of lubricating oil or the decrease in rotational speed.