Dynamic Analysis of a High-Speed Rotor-Ball Bearing System Under Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication

The nonlinear dynamic behaviors of a high-speed rotor-ball bearing system under elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) are investigated. First, the numerical curve fittings for stiffness and damping coefficients of lubricated contacts between rolling elements and races are undertaken, and then the fitted formulae are introduced to the equations of motion of the rotor-ball bearing system to investigate its nonlinear characteristics. Furthermore, the time responses, power spectra, phase trajectories, orbit plots, and bifurcation diagrams for cases of ignoring and considering the lubrication condition in bearings are inspected and compared. The results indicate that, when lubrication is taken into account, the amplitudes of vibration displacements and velocities of the rotor system increase, and the appearance of different regions of periodic, quasi-periodic, and chaotic behavior is strongly dependent on the speed and load.