Profiling a Cylindrical Roller Bearing Oil-Film Thickness Distribution With Ultrasound

The rollers and raceways in cylindrical roller bearings are separated by an extremely thin lubricant film over a narrow region, which is critical to performance. The ultrasound method has been applied successfully to a range of bearings including journal and ball bearings. But the actual maximum speed that can be measured is limited by the repetition frequency of the ultrasonic pulse. Otherwise, a single measurement point cannot image the thickness distribution of the cylindrical roller bearing. This paper describes the measurement of lubricant-film thickness distribution in a roller bearing by moving the ultrasound transducer. A new ultrasonic pulser-receiver is used to get enough effective measurement points. For a range of loads and speeds, the oil-film thicknesses of four positions along the roller are measured. The influences of the rotating speed and radial load on the film thickness measurement are consistent with the theoretical predictions. The limits of the PRR used in measurements are discussed and the averaging effect of the transducer focal zone size is observed.