Abstract

Rolling element bearings are found in every piece of machinery and are therefore a source of energy losses that cannot be ignored. In recent years a series of energy-efficient bearings have been developed using specific designs or new materials aiming to reduce the losses of a bearing without sacrificing its load-carrying capacity. The effect that these designs have on the global energy consumption has not been quantified until now.

A methodology to estimate the energy losses of the usage of a specific bearing type on a global scale is presented in this article. The method, which is based on current standards, provides a first approximation for the determination of the energy losses of bearings and is tested for its plausibility. The pros and cons of the proposed method are discussed, and a proposal is made regarding how to calculate the potential energy efficiency of newer designs.

摘要

滚动轴承存在于每一台机器中，因此是不可忽视的能量损失来源。近年来，已经开发出一系列使用特定设计或新材料的节能轴承，旨在在不牺牲轴承承载能力的情况下减少轴承的损耗。这些设计对全球能源消耗的影响直到现在还没有量化。

本文介绍了一种在全球范围内估算使用特定轴承类型的能量损失的方法。该方法基于现行标准，为确定轴承的能量损失提供了初步近似值，并对其合理性进行了测试。讨论了所提出方法的优缺点，并就如何计算新设计的潜在能源效率提出了建议。