Ferrofluid lubrication for ball bearings to avoid starvation
Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
ISSN: 0036-8792
Article publication date: 29 May 2020
Issue publication date: 13 November 2020
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to prevent oil starvation and improve the service life of the rolling bearings.
Design/methodology/approach
A thrust ball bearing with magnetic circuit structure is proposed for ferrofluid lubrication. With the aid of magnetic field, ferrofluid can be maintained in the contact area of rolling bodies to delay lubricant loss. Experiments are performed to ensure the validity of the designed bearing.
Findings
Compared with conventional lubricant, service life of the ferrofluid lubricated bearing can be prolonged under magnetic field. In addition, with a proper magnetic field distribution, lubricant starvation may be limited under the conditions of present experiments.
Originality/value
This work provides a method to control the starved lubrication of rolling bearings with restricted lubricant supply.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-04-2020-0132/
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51875278) for financial support.
Citation
Xu, M., Jin, G., Dai, Q., Huang, W. and Wang, X. (2020), "Ferrofluid lubrication for ball bearings to avoid starvation", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 72 No. 10, pp. 1227-1231. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-04-2020-0132
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited