Enhancement of thrust ball bearings performance through biomimetic composite textures: A comparative analysis under grease-starved lubrication condition

Abstract

A novel self-transport biomimetic composite texture on the guiding surface of thrust ball bearings was presented. The distribution and morphology of the grease fingers were analyzed using a self-developed fluorescent grease to evaluate the effects of different texture types on the lubrication state of the bearings. The results indicate that the self-transportation biomimetic composite texture bearing (BCB) exhibits the best lubrication performance. Compared with the non-textured bearing (NB), the overall vibration performance was improved by 55.7 %, the friction torque was decreased by 20.8 %, the slide/roll ratio was reduced by 67.2 %, and the grease storage capacity was increased by 130.5 %. The BCB bearing greatly improved the grease-starved state of the bearing, resulting from a more abundant secondary grease reservoir.