Detection of active grease reservoirs in bearings by CFD

Active grease reservoirs in bearings are formed by the fraction of the grease from where lubricating oil is supplied to the bearing contacts. This paper describes a methodology to identify the active grease reservoirs inside a bearing by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). This technology is used in an angular contact ball bearing and a deep groove ball bearing to predict the trajectories of the oil released from a grease reservoir in a bearing and the subsequent transport of the oil film formed by the released oil. The CFD result is verified by bearing performance tests.