Effects of Raceway Convexity on Friction Moment of Tapered Roller Bearings

Abstract The Effects of raceway convexities on friction moment of tapered roller bearings were studied in this paper. A new theoretical model of friction torque of tapered roller bearings was established considering the roughness and convexities of inner and outer ring raceways. Friction between roller and raceways were analyzed under the condition of elastohydrodynamic lubrication. Based on the theoretical model and experiments, the changes of friction torque with respected to raceway convexities of tapered roller bearings were obtained. The results show that the friction moment decreases with the increase of raceway convexities, while the increase of raceway convexity leads to the increase of contact stress. Therefore, the convexity values should be balanced between friction torque and contact stress. The convexity values should be balanced between friction torque and contact stress. The optimum values of the bearing being measured raceway convexities should be 5 ~ 6μm under the test conditions.