This paper presents an integrated thermo-mechanical model for analyzing angular contact ball bearings (ACBBs) operating under oil-jet lubrication. The proposed approach enables a comprehensive analysis of both the mechanical and thermal behavior of the ACBB system. The proposed formulation employs a quasi-static approach to accurately calculate contact loads and heat generation, taking into careful consideration variations in internal clearance resulting from factors such as surface pressure, centrifugal forces, and thermal expansion. For the thermal analysis, a refined thermal network model is utilized. The proposed thermal model incorporates a newly derived correlation for the drag coefficient under oil-jet lubrication, which is obtained through high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations. The validity of the proposed model is confirmed through comparison with experimental data. Furthermore, extensive simulations are conducted to investigate the impact of bearing fit-up and thermal variations on the performance of ACBBs.

Liquid sloshing occurs when a partially filled liquid tank is subjected to undesirable external forces or acceleration/deceleration for positioning control. Installation of baffles is still the most popular way to suppress the sloshing, but recent successes of input shaping in reducing structural vibrations may give a possible alternative. We aim at investigating the applicability of input shaping to sloshing suppression by numerically solving fluid motions in a rectangular tank. The tank is partially filled with water and it is suddenly put into a sequence of horizontal motions of acceleration and constant speed. The flow is assumed to be two-dimensional, incompressible, and inviscid, and a VOF two-phase model is used to capture the free surface. Results show that the sloshing can be successfully suppressed by shaping the input, i.e., the velocity or acceleration profile of tank. Three different input shapers (ZV, ZVD, and two-mode convolved ZV shapers) are tested and compared in this study. Among them, the convolved ZV shaper shows a best performance to eliminate the sloshing almost completely.

In a hope to better understand the flow and convective heat transfer characteristics inside a ball bearing, air flow between the rolling elements and raceways at high speed bearing rotation is numerically investigated using a simplified inner geometry of bearing and a CFD technique. Flow simulation results reveal the pressure distribution of airflow and the shear stress distribution on the ball surface, of which nonuniformity becomes significant with the increasing rotational speed. Also, the local point of maximum shear stress coincides with the stagnation flow area on the surface of rolling elements. A complex pattern of three-dimensional vortex structures is found in the air flow due to the relative motion of bearing elements and three different types of vortex pairs exist around the rotating and orbiting rolling elements.