Publication

Rolling bearings, which can be found in any machine with a moving part, may suffer from fretting wear (false brinelling) on the rolling element or raceway surface as a result of two metallic surfaces that contact each other under conditions of cyclic motion (oscillatory tangential displacement) of small amplitude. Fretting wear on a bearing surface can result in bearings that are excessively noisy, can increase the amount of torque in the application, cause flaking that results in bearing failure, and so on. However, the relationship between amplitude ratio and minimum oil film thickness has not been clarified. In this study, the degree of oscillation was expressed as a non-dimensional parameter of an amplitude ratio, and the amount of amplitude ratio required to start oil film formation was investigated. Additionally, the influence of viscosity and required amount of amplitude ratio when using traction oil were also investigated.