THE ANNALS OF UNIVERSITY DUNREA DE JOS OF GALAI FASCICLE VIII, 2004, ISSN 1221-4590 TRIBOLOGY

85

TEST RIG FOR FRICTION TORQUE MEASUREMENT IN ROLLING BEARINGS

Viorel PALEU, Spiridon CREU, Barbu DRGAN, Rodica BLAN
Technical University Gh. Asachi of IASI, Mechanical Engineering Faculty, Machine Design and Mechatronics Department, Iasi, Romania vpaleu@mec.tuiasi.ro

ABSTRACT
To supervise both the evolutions of the friction torque and the equilibrium temperature in the high-speed rolling bearings, a test rig able to run up to 120,000 rpm has been developed. In order to monitor the friction torque, modern acquisition data techniques and a virtual instrument were employed. Tests were carried-out on all-steel and hybrid ball bearings from 7206 C series. The running parameters corresponded to high-speed, oil-mist lubrication and axially pure light loads conditions. According to the results of our tests, the friction torque and the developed temperature in hybrid rolling bearings are lower than in geometrically similar allsteel bearings. KEYWORDS: test rig, silicone nitride, hybrid ball bearings, oil mist.

1. INTRODUCTION
In the seventh decade of the twentieth century, the hybrid rolling bearings with ceramic rolling elements became the subject of many researches, as indicated by [2, 3, 8, 9, 10] and the references cited in. From ceramics, silicon nitride is the most employed due to its special properties. The main advantage of silicon nitride is the lower density, about 40 % from that of rolling bearing steel. This draws to important reductions of the centrifugal forces acting on ceramic balls. Silicon nitride has a lot of other special properties: low thermal expansion coefficient, high thermal and chemical stability, high strength and hardness, non-magnetic and electrically insulator. Nowadays, hybrid rolling bearings with steel races and ceramic balls are widely used to support the shaft of high-speed machine tools. The hybrid ball bearings provide better stiffness, increasing the machining precision. The silicon nitride (Si3N4) has a reduced thermal expansion coefficient, keeping in narrower limits the clearances in hybrid rolling bearings. As a result, it allows an increase of the running speed and machining precision. Hybrid rolling bearings, with steel rings and ceramic elements, are engaged in other high-speed special applications, as in aircraft gas turbine engines and cruise missile turbine shaft [12].

Different lubrication methods, as under-race oil jet and oil-mist, were tried for all-steel and hybrid rolling bearings [1, 11]. The tested rolling bearings belonged to very large series (pitch diameter of around 150-250 millimeters), higher values of the speed parameter (pitch diameter x shaft speed) being obtained at average values of the shaft speed (about 10,000 rpm). It is the goal of this paper to present a test rig and a new device for the testing at high speed of small to mean bore diameter ball bearings (inner ring bore diameter of 30 mm), lubricated by oil mist. The tests aimed to a speed parameter around 2 x 106 mm x rpm, as used in machine tools and auxiliary bearings of turbine engine.

2. MATERIALS
All-steel and hybrid angular contact rolling bearings from 7206CTAP4 series were tested on a high-speed test rig, the only difference between the two types of bearings being the balls material: AISI 52100 rolling bearing steel and silicon nitride (Si3N4), respectively. The dimensional precision of rolling bearing elements and their physical properties are indicated in Table 1. The chemical composition of AISI 52100 steel is: C: 0.95 - 1.1 %, Si: 0.17 - 0.37 %, Mn: 0.25 - 0.45 %, Cr: 1.30 - 1.65 % (in wt. %).

86

THE ANNALS OF UNIVERSITY DUNREA DE JOS OF GALAI FASCICLE VIII, 2004, ISSN 1221-4590 TRIBOLOGY

Table 1. Dimensional precision and physical properties of rolling bearing elements Rolling bearing type Material Rolling bearing steel (AISI 52100) Inner ring Parameter and unit system Diameter, [mm] Roughness, Ra [m] Poisson coefficient, Density, [Kg/ m3] Elasticity modulus, E [GPa] Hardness @ 20 0C, HV10 [Kg/ mm2] Thermal conductivity @ 20 0 C, , [W/m/0C] Specific heat, c [J/Kg/0C] 30 0.07.. 0.1 Outer ring 62 0.065.. 0.1 0.3 7800 208 700 43 460 Balls 9.525 0.018.. 0.035 0.01.. 0.014 0.25 3200 314 1700 30.7 810 Table 2. Properties of H9 hydraulic mineral oil Parameter and unit system Viscosity, [cSt] Density, [Kg/m3] Thermal conductivity, [W/m/0C] Specific heat, [J/Kg/0C] In addition, it must be noticed that the cage was made from textile-reinforced phenolic resin and is outer race guided. Cage to outer and inner ring radial clearances are: J c e (0.2.. 0.252 ) mm, J c i ( 1.65.. 1.725) mm, respectively. Ball to cage clearance is J bc (0.137.. 0.162 ) mm. The mentioned parameters are indicated as mean values measured on about four series of ten rolling bearings. During all the tests, the rolling bearings were lubricated with hydraulic mineral oil H9, its properties being indicated in table 2. Value 31.2849 (@300 C) 14.4396 (@500 C) 6.8715 (@750 C) 895 (@ 150 C) 0.14 (@ 20 0 C) 2000 supplied by the oil-mist device (6), and lubrication circuit (6). The cooling of the motor spindle house is realized by a return cooling system (7), assuring a continuously flux of could tap water. The spindle of the testing device (8), is clamped by screwing up at the end of the motor spindle. Both the motor spindle and the spindle of the tested device were equilibrated as the maximum run out to be less than 2 micrometers. A spindle sustaining the face-to-face tandem of testing rolling bearings composes the testing device, schematically presented in Fig. 3. An external axial charge is realized by screwing a taped piece into devices house. The taped piece pushes on the testing rolling bearings, by the mean of 16 pairs of loading springs and by a loading sleeve. The testing rolling bearings are lubricated by oil-mist lubrication, realized by a separated oil-mist device, (9). This is supplied into the testing device by a lubrication circuit, and a double nozzle (10). With the purpose of directing the oil-air mixture to ball and inner ring contact of the testing rolling bearings, an inclination of 15 degrees was provided for the axis of the two opposite holes of the lubricating nozzle. Steel and hybrid rolling bearings Steel rolling bearings Hybrid rolling Bearings Silicon nitride (HIP Si3N4) Ball grade 3

3. TEST RIG
General views of the test rig are given in Fig. 1 and figure 2. The box bed, noted as (1) in figure 1, of the test rig weights about 3 tones, assuring a good stiffness and vibration damping capacity. Belts on the box bed fix a rigid metallic vertical support (2). A dovetail guide (3), and an elastic hub (4) supports the motor spindle. A back-to-back precision tandem of 2 angular ball bearings from small series sustains the caned coil motor spindle. These rolling bearings of the motor spindle are lubricated by textile oil-mist,

THE ANNALS OF UNIVERSITY DUNREA DE JOS OF GALAI FASCICLE VIII, 2004, ISSN 1221-4590 TRIBOLOGY

87

4 3 5

11

blocks the pin, screwed-up in the house of the rotating testing device. There is no direct contact between the block of house - charging pieces - outer rings of testing rolling bearings, and the block of spindle inner rings, the movement from the spindle to the house being transmitted only by balls/ races and cage/ races contacts. To avoid the touch between the nozzle and the house, a 25 degrees circular slit was executed into the house. The speed of the motor spindle was varied by a frequency static converter equipped with overcharge protectors.

10

4. DATA ACQUISITION CHAIN AND VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT

Data acquisition chain allows the monitoring of the friction moment at the outer race level of the face-toface testing rolling bearing. The acquisition chain is schematically shown in figure 4, having the next structure (see also fig. 2): The mechanical structure is composed by the rolling bearings house, a blocking pin, an metallic elastic leaf and two strain gages of 120 electrical resistance brazed on each side of the metallic leaf. The strain gages bridge SC-2043-SG National Instruments (12), directly connected the strain gages to the acquisition board.

1 Fig. 1. Test rig motor spindle and testing device. To measure the friction moment at the outer race level within the tested bearings, a metallic elastic leaf (11), with two resistive strain gages brazed on it, was screwed in the vertical support. This metallic leaf

Laser Raynger MX4

12

PC 9 Fig. 2. General view of the test rig and data acquisition techniques.

88

THE ANNALS OF UNIVERSITY DUNREA DE JOS OF GALAI FASCICLE VIII, 2004, ISSN 1221-4590 TRIBOLOGY

Fig. 3. Testing device

Fig. 4. Data acquisition chain

Fig. 5. Front panel of LabVIEW Virtual Instrument.

THE ANNALS OF UNIVERSITY DUNREA DE JOS OF GALAI FASCICLE VIII, 2004, ISSN 1221-4590 TRIBOLOGY

89

In figure 5 the front panel of the LabVIEW made Virtual Instrument is presented. The strain gages were calibrated by dead weights method, according to the figure 6. To estimate the mean temperature of the testing device, a laser Raynger MX4 apparatus was used (fig. 2). This apparatus measures the intensity of the infrared radiations emitted by the target body and calculates its surface temperature. At the apparatus we can also use a J or K thermocouple, for direct contact estimation of bodys surface temperature.
0.1 0.075

dMER= elementary elastic rolling moment (Heathcote sliding [6]); dMC= elementary curvature moment, dMC, due to the micro-sliding on ball-and races contacts; dMP= elementary pivoting moment acting on balls; dMB= elementary resistant moment created by braking and drag forces and moments acting on balls, FB, FD, MB, and MDb, respectively; Mp= resistant moment due to oil-mist pressure acting on house device.

6. TEST DESCRIPTION
Tests were carried out on tandems of face-toface mounted all-steel and hybrid ball bearings from 7206CTAP4 series. Before the test, a running-in was made for each tandem of rolling bearings, at a speed of 10 000 rpm and 200 N axial preload, until the monitored friction moment became stable (usually around 2 hours of running-in). During all the tests, the lubricant was supplied into the rolling bearings house as an oil-air mixture composed by feeding 16 drops of H9 mineral oil in a draught of air at 2.4 Bars. It was considered as a valid experimental data, the mean value of friction moment of five identically repeated experiments.

M [N*m]

0.05 0.025 0 0 400 800 1200 1600 2000

U [V]

Fig. 6. Calibration of the strain gages

5. THEORETICAL MODEL
To evaluate the friction moment in all-steel and hybrid ball bearings, a theoretical model was used, this model being entirely presented by authors in [7]. It extends to the high-speed domain the friction model proposed by Houpert [4,5] for low to mean speed rolling bearings. The friction moment at the outer and inner race level, Me and Mi, respectively, is given by equation (1): (1) M i( e ) = FS i( e ) + FRi( e ) Ri( e ) + MP M p

6.1. Comparative tests

Accelerated tests were carried-out varying the running speed and keeping constant all the other parameters. The testing device was heated at a superior temperature than that established for the start of the tests: 720C. To get a homogenized temperature, the device was naturally cooled until the desired temperature was reached. A pure axially load was applied to the device in two steps: firstly 200 N and secondly 400 N. The limit running speed for all steel bearings was 35,000 rpm, while for the hybrid bearings the maximum attended speed was 44,000 rpm.

The friction forces on ball and races contacts can be computed from the equations of equilibrium of forces and moments acting on balls [7]. The final relationship for friction moment assessment is expressed by relationship (2):
dMRi( e ) + dMER + M p M i( e ) == Z + dMC + dMBi( e ) + dMP

6.2. Tests to evaluate the equilibrium temperature

To establish the equilibrium temperature of the testing device, the rolling bearings were 200 N axially loaded. The running speed was kept at a constant value of 30 000 rpm. The temperature variation was continuously monitored in time by the laser Raynger MX4 apparatus, calibrated for stainless steel. It was considered as equilibrium temperature, the value of the temperature which rested unchanged for at least ten minutes.

(2)

where : FSi(e)= sliding force on ball and inner or ball and outer race contacts, respectively; Ri(e)= equivalent radius of ball and inner or ball and outer race contacts, respectively; dMR= elementary friction moment (one ball contribution) produced by sliding and rolling forces acting on ball and races contacts, FSi(e);

90

THE ANNALS OF UNIVERSITY DUNREA DE JOS OF GALAI FASCICLE VIII, 2004, ISSN 1221-4590 TRIBOLOGY

7. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The results of comparative tests (see fig. 7), developed on geometrically identical all-steel and hybrid ball bearings, have shown that the measured friction moment was lower in hybrid bearings for the high speed range (speed parameter greater than 0.46 x 10 6 mm x rpm). The greater the speed and applied load, the greater the friction moment. The centrifugal forces acting on ceramic balls are smaller than those acting on steel balls, because of the lower density of silicon nitride. Accordingly, there are diminished contact loads and friction forces on ceramic balls and outer race contacts.
0.1 0.09 0.08 0.07

For the equilibrium temperature tests, the results are presented in figure 8. It can be observed that the equilibrium temperature in hybrid ball bearings tandem is lower than in similar all steel, but was reached during a longer period of time. To understand and explain this phenomenon, it must be noticed that at high speed (e.g., 30,000 rpm) there is always direct contact between the surface asperities of balls and races, the lubrication conditions corresponding to the mixed regime for both the allsteel and hybrid bearings, as shown by the authors in [7]. As compared to the steel balls, the silicon nitride balls have a better surface quality (see table 1).

S - N (Fa=400 N) S - N (Fa=200 N) H - N (Fa=400 N) H - N (Fa=200 N)

S - E (Fa=400 N) S - E (Fa=200 N) H - E (Fa=400 N) H - E (Fa=200 N)

M e [N*m]

0.06 0.05 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.01 0 0

10

15

20

25

30
3

35

40

45

50

N [rpm] x 10

Fig. 7. Friction moment versus running speed and axial load Notations: S - N = numerical results for all-steel rolling bearings S - E = experimental results for all-steel rolling bearings; H - N = numerical results for hybrid rolling bearings; H - E = experimental results for hybrid rolling bearings.
90 80 70 60

T [ C]

50 40 30 20 10 0 0 5 10 15 20 25

Hibrid Steel Otel Hybrid 7206C DF seria 7206CTAP4 - DF Rulmenti rolling bearings N=30 N = 30rpm, Fa=200 N 000 000 [rpm]; Fa= 200 [N]
30 35 40

t [min]

Fig. 8. Mean temperature of the house versus time.

THE ANNALS OF UNIVERSITY DUNREA DE JOS OF GALAI FASCICLE VIII, 2004, ISSN 1221-4590 TRIBOLOGY

91

Additionally, the sliding speed and lubricant shear rate on ball and races contacts of all-steel rolling bearings have superior values, even for similar geometry and identical running conditions [7]. As a result, greater temperature values are obtained in all-steel bearings, as well the rapid reaching of the equilibrium temperature. Mild friction occurred in ball and races contacts of hybrid bearings, the viscosity of the lubricant being greater because of the lower temperature. A more viscous lubricant assures a better separation between the contact surfaces. Consequently, it took more time to achieve the equilibrium temperature in hybrid bearings, but the equilibrium temperature is smaller.

To validate the experimental results, an analytical model was proposed. A good agreement was found between the experimental and theoretical results. More tests are requested to elucidate the behavior of hybrid silicon nitride rolling bearings in heavy loads and oil mist lubrication applications.

REFERENCES
1. Aramaki H., Shoda, Y., Morishita Y., Sawamoto T., 1988, The Performance of Ball Bearings With Silicon Nitride Ceramic Balls in High Speed Spindles for Machine Tools, J. of Tribology, Trans. ASME, Vol. 110, p. 693-98. 2. Bushan B., Sibley L.B., 1982, Silicon Nitride Rolling Bearings for Extreme Operating Conditions, ASLE Trans., Vol. 25, 4, p. 417-428. 3. Dalal H.M., Chiu Y.P., Rabinowicz E., 1975, Evaluation of Hot Pressed Silicon Nitride as a Rolling Bearing Material, ASLE Trans., Vol. 18, 3, p. 211-221. 4. Houpert L., Leenders P., 1985, A Theorethical and Experimental Investigation Into Rolling Bearing Friction, Proc. of 4eme Congres Europeean de Tribologie - EUROTRIB 1985, Ecully, France, p. 2-10. 5. Houpert L., 1999, Numerical and analytical calculation in ball bearings, Proc. of Congres Roulement, Toulouse, France, p. 115 6. Johnson, K.L., 1962, Tangential Traction and Microslip, Rolling Contact Phenomena, Elsevier, p. 6-28. 7. Paleu V., 2002, Cercetari teoretice si experimentale privind dinamica si fiabilitatea rulmentilor hibrizi (Theoretical and Experimental Research on Hybrid Rolling Bearings' Dynamics and Reliability), PhD Thesis, Iasi, Romania, p. 229. 8. Parker R.J., Zaretsky E.V., 1975, Fatigue Life of HighSpeed Ball Bearings With Silicon Nitride Balls, J. Lubr. Tech., p. 350-357. 9. Reddecliff J.M., Valori R., 1976, The Performance of a High-Speed Ball Thrust Bearing Using Silicon Nitride Balls, J. Lubr. Tech., p. 553-563. 10. Scott D., Blackwell, J., McCullagh P.J., 1971, Silicon Nitride as a Rolling Bearing Material Preliminary Assessment, Wear, Vol. 17, p. 73-82. 11. Shoda Y., Ijuin, S., Aramaki H., Yui, H., Toma K., 1997, The Performance of a Hybrid Ceramic Ball Bearing Under High Speed Conditions with the Under-Race Lubrication Method, Tribol. Trans., Vol. 40, 4, p. 676-684. 12. Wang L., Snidle R.W., Gu L., 2000, Rolling contact silicon nitride bearing technology: a review of recent research, Wear, Vol. 246, p. 159-173.

8. CONCLUSIONS
In order to evaluate the friction torque and the equilibrium temperature in high-speed rolling bearings, a test rig and a new testing device were realized. To increase the precision of measurements, modern data acquisition techniques were employed. All-steel and hybrid ball bearings from 7206C series were tested in oil-air lubrication and light pure axial load conditions. The comparative tests demonstrate that the friction moment is lower in hybrid bearings, especially at high speed. The equilibrium temperature, measured on rolling bearing house by a laser Raynger MX4 apparatus, is more rapid reached in all-steel bearings and the value is greater than in hybrid bearings, even the running parameters were the same. The attained speed parameter during tests was around 2 x 106 mm x rpm, as used in machine tools and auxiliary bearings of turbine engine. The performances of hybrid rolling bearing tandem at high speed are explained by the reduced centrifugal forces acting on balls and by better surface quality of the silicon nitride balls.