An exploration of frictional and vibrational behaviors of textured deep groove ball bearing in the vicinity of requisite minimum load

Abstract In case of lightly loaded radial ball bearings, failure mechanisms other than fatigue such as smearing of raceways due to increased frictional torque and vibrations often prevail. Hence, attempts have been made herein for reducing the frictional torque and minimizing the vibrations of a radial deep groove ball bearing employing surface textures at the inner race. Nanosecond pulsed laser was used to create texture (involving micro-dimples having different dimple area density) on the inner race of test bearings. Using an in-house developed test rig, frictional torque and vibrational parameters were measured at different speeds and light loads (i.e. in vicinity of 0.01 C , where C is dynamic load capacity of radial ball bearing). Significant reduction in frictional torque and overall vibrations were found in the presence of micro-dimples on inner race at light loads irrespective of operating speeds. Even without satisfying the minimum load needed criteria for the satisfactory operation, substantial reduction in smearing marks was found on the races of textured ball bearings in comparison to conventional cases.