A Dynamic Wear Model for Micro-Grooved Water-Lubricated Bearings Under Transient Mixed Lubrication Condition

The study presents a dynamic wear model for micro-grooved water-lubricated bearings considering the transient mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication (mixed-EHL) condition. In the established model, the modified Archard wear model and the mixed-EHL model are bridged to study the transient interdependent relationship between the sliding wear behavior and the mixed-EHL performance. In order to consider the effect of the transient mixed-EHL performance on the sliding wear, the Archard model is extended to include the time-varying wear coefficient based on the fatigue concept. To verify the presented model, the comparisons with the experimental results available in the literatures have been conducted. In this study, the evolution of the wear and mixed-EHL performance distribution over time is predicted, and the impact of the radial clearance, boundary friction coefficient, and surface parameters on the numerical predictions is evaluated. The simulation results reveal that the worn region moves toward the rotational direction slowly. The simulation results also reveal that the wear rate and the wear coefficient first decrease considerably, and then decrease gently, and the sliding wear geometry promotes the hydrodynamic effects and reduces the asperity contact during the operation. Furthermore, the parametric study demonstrates that dynamic wear and mixed-EHL performance is sensitive to the radial clearance, boundary friction coefficient, and surface parameters.