Tribo-dynamic analysis of high-speed roller bearings for electrified vehicle powertrains

• Published in: Tribology international Vol. 154; p. 106675
• Main Authors: Questa, H., Mohammadpour, M., Theodossiades, S., Garner, C.P., Bewsher, S.R., Offner, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2021; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Bearings; Boundary conditions; Critical components; Dynamics; Efficiency; EHL; Elastohydrodynamic lubrication; Electrified powertrain; Film thickness; High speed; Lubricants; Lubricants & lubrication; Powertrain; Roller bearings; Tribology; Electrified powertrain; EHL; Roller bearings; Dynamics; Efficiency
• ISSN: 0301-679X; 1879-2464
• DOI: 10.1016/j.triboint.2020.106675

Roller bearings are critical components in electrified powertrains. At high speeds, the critical role of the elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) cannot be ignored, necessitating a tribo-dynamic analysis. This paper investigates the behaviour of roller bearings under operating conditions present in high-speed electrified powertrains. The bearing motion is obtained experimentally using a novel experimental rig. The bearing centre's orbital motion is acquired from the experiment and used as the boundary condition for tribological analysis. Results reveal that the EHL film thickness increases from 0.2 to 1.9 μm across a speed range of 0–15 000 rpm. A comparison with conventional dry contact analysis shows that roller load can be underestimated if the lubricant film is neglected in the roller-race contact deformation. •Tribo-dynamic study of rolling element bearings under high-speed operation.•Novel experimental and numerical methodology obtains bearing tribological behaviour.•Lubricant film is implicitly included at the roller-race contact within the model.•Dry Hertzian contact analysis underestimates roller load by 149% at high speeds.•Lubricant film thickness increases from 0.2 to 1.9 μm between 0 and 15 000 rpm.