Research on the Tribological Behavior of Textured Cylindrical Roller Thrust Bearings with Different Distributions of Pits and Nylon Cages under Dry Condition

Abstract

Differing from the published documents on the effect of texture distributions of sliding tribo-pairs on their friction and wear properties, this study introduced eight patterns to reveal the influence of different distributions of pits on the tribological behavior of textured rolling element bearings with nylon cages under dry condition, namely: Outside-1/4 (OS1/4), Outside-1/2 (OS1/2), Outside-3/4 (OS3/4), Inside-1/4 (IS1/4), Inside-1/2 (IS1/2), Inside-3/4 (IS3/4), Bothside-1/3 (BS) and full (FP). A fiber laser marking system was used to prepare them on the raceways of the shaft washers of cylindrical roller thrust bearings (81107TN). A vertical universal wear test rig was used to obtain their coefficients of friction under an axial load of 2600 N and a rotating speed of 250 RPM, without any lubricant provided. Their wear losses and worn surfaces were characterized. The influence mechanism of different distributions on the tribological properties was also discussed. The results show that the self-lubricating performance of nylon cages can ensure the continuous operation (≥5 h) of cylindrical roller thrust bearings under dry condition. The influence of outside-distributed patterns on the friction and wear properties of bearings is significant. The friction-reducing effect and wear resistance of full textured group is improved but not the best. The friction-reducing and anti-wear behavior of OS1/2 is similar to that of FP. In this work, OS3/4 can provide the best tribological performance under self-lubricating conditions. Compared with the data of smooth bearings, its average coefficient of friction and wear loss can be reduced by 37.68% and 38.85%, respectively. This work would provide a valuable reference for the raceway design and reliability optimization of rolling element bearings.