Analysis of Fluid Flow Characteristics Around Rolling Element in Ball Bearings

Various bearings such as deep-groove ball bearings, angular-contact ball bearings, and roller bearings are used to support the load and to lubricate between the shaft and the housing. The bearings of potential rolling systems in a turbo pump are the deep-groove ball bearings as comparing with the bearings with rolling elements such as cylindrical rollers, tapered cylindrical rollers, and needle rollers. The deep-groove ball bearings consist of rolling elements, an inner raceway, an outer raceway and a retainer that maintain separation and help to lubricate the rolling element that is rotating in the raceways. In the case of water-lubricated ball bearings, however, fluid friction between the ball and raceways is affected by the entry direction of flow, rotation speed, and flow rate. In addition, this friction is the key factor affecting the bearing life cycles and reliability. In this paper, the characteristics of flow conditions corresponding to a deep-groove ball bearing are investigated numerically, with particular focus on the friction distribution on the rolling element, in order to extend the analysis to the area that experiences solid friction. A simple analysis model of fluid flow inside the water-lubricated ball bearing is analyzed with CFD, and the flow characteristics at high rotation speeds are presented.