Research Article

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

2015, Vol. 7(12) 1–8
Ó The Author(s) 2015
Design and application on DOI: 10.1177/1687814015618640
aime.sagepub.com
experimental platform for high-speed
bearing with grease lubrication

He Qiang1, Li Anling1, Shen Yuan2, Li Lili1, Li Zeqiang3 and Pan Benliu3

Abstract
The experimental platform for high-speed grease is an important tool for research and development of high-speed
motorized spindle with grease lubrication. In this article, the experimental platform for high-speed grease is designed
and manufactured which consists of the drive system, the test portion, the loading system, the lubrication system, the
control system, and so on. In the meantime, the high-speed angular contact ceramic ball bearings B7005C/HQ1P4 as the
research object are tested and contrasted in the grease lubrication and oil mist lubrication. The experimental platform
performance is validated by contrast experiment, and the high-speed lubricated bearing performance is also studied
especially in the relationship among the rotating speed,load and temperature rise. The results show that the experi-
mental platform works steadily, accurate, and reliable in the experimental testing. And the grease lubrication ceramic ball
bearings B7005C/HQ1P4 can be used in high-speed motorized spindle in the circular water cooling conditions when the
rotating speed is lower than 40,000 r/min or the DN value (the value of the bearing diameter times the rotating speed)
is lower than the 1.44 3 106 mm r/min. Grease lubrication instead of oil mist lubrication under high-speed rotating will
simplify the structure design of the high-speed motorized spindle and reduce the pollution to the environment.

Keywords
Experimental platform, ceramic ball bearing, grease lubrication, oil mist lubrication, performance testing

Date received: 30 March 2015; accepted: 28 October 2015

Academic Editor: Ramiro Martins

Introduction the bearings of high-speed motorized spindle are used

With the development of computer numerical control
(CNC) machine tools to high-speed, high-precision,
high-efficiency, and environmental-friendly, the
requirements in spindle speed and reliability are also
increasing.1,2 High-speed bearing is the key component
of motorized spindle, whose performance will directly
affect the stand or fall of motorized spindle perfor-
mance, that is, tool’s accuracy, part surface quality,
production efficiency, vibration, and noise of the
machine. Thus, higher requirements for the perfor-
mance and operating life of high-speed spindle are put
forward for designing high-speed bearing.
The main ways of bearing lubrication are grease
lubrication, oil mist lubrication, and oil air lubrication;
for the oil mist lubrication which is preferred for bear-
ing to high speed, and it is simple to replace the lubri-
cating oil, but it is complex to design the channels of oil
lubrication. Usually, the oil mist will direct discharge to
the air; the environmental pollution is serious and it
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Anyang Institute of Technology,
Anyang, China
2
Department of Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University,
Shanghai, China
3
Luoyang Bearing Science & Technology Co., Ltd, Luoyang, China
Corresponding author:
Li Anling, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Anyang Institute of
Technology, Anyang 455000, China.
Email: aystar@163.com

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2 Advances in Mechanical Engineering
damages operating workers’ health. The bearings with
grease lubrication can save oil mist lubrication system’s
required tank, pump, tubing, and transmission parts;
the lubricating system is greatly simplified, and it has
the advantages of small volume, light weight, and little
pollution. However, usually the bearing uses grease
lubrication only in low speed. It needs a experimental
platform to test and verify the speed limit of the grease
lubricated bearing.
Currently, although lots of researches have investi-
gated on the high-speed bearing, it is mainly about oil
mist lubrication for the high-speed bearing on the
experimental platform without radial loading. Min-
Chun Pan and Wen-Chang Tsao3 used a test rig to
acquire data for envelope analysis in multiple fault
diagnosis of ball bearings. Young Kug Hwang and
Choon Man Lee4 introduced a test bench to measure
the magnetic attraction force. Said Lahriri and Ilmar
F. Santos5 studied dynamic forces and shaft motion in
two different types of backup bearings under several
contact conditions. R. Tiwari and V. Chakravarthy6
used the experimental data in a rotor-bearing system to
estimate the residual unbalance and bearing dynamic
parameter. M.M. Gatzen7 investigated the effect of
greases enhanced with polymer additives on the tribo-
logical behavior of high-speed angular contact bear-
ings. The bearing test results indicate lower operating
temperatures for grease enhanced with the reference
grease. M.B. Dobrica8 evaluated the bearing perfor-
mance degradation; several operating parameters are
computed, including minimum film thickness, average
oil temperature, and maximum hydrodynamic pressure.
F.P. Brito9 compared with the single groove arrange-
ment, namely, due to uneven lubricant feed through
each groove. Jafar Takabi10 studied the evolution of
the temperature with time in a deep-groove ball bearing
in an oil-bath lubrication system; the simulation results
indicate that higher rotational speed, oil viscosity, and
housing cooling rate lead to the larger temperature gra-
dient and thermally induced preload in ball bearings.
D. Koulocheris11 tested greases contaminated with par-
ticles of different sizes and hardness by a test rig.
Takayoshi Itagaki12 studied the abnormal vibration of
ball bearings lubricated with grease; the axial-loaded
ball bearings were operated at a constant rotational
speed, and the vibration and the outer ring tempera-
tures of the test bearings were measured. Jan
Lundberg13 examined nine different commercial greases
in the wheel bearings of five ore wagons; the damage
on the bearings was also studied after the end of the
test period.
However, these methods cannot completely simulate
the actual working condition of the bearing, because
the bearing is likely to bear radial load during opera-
tion.14–18 There are few reports about the high-speed
bearing experimental platform under the complicated
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condition with grease lubrication, oil mist lubrication,
axial loading, and radial loading.19,20
In this article, the author designs an experimental
platform which can exert axial, radial load, and intelli-
gent control of the system. The experimental platform
can simulate various work conditions of the high-speed
bearing with oil mist lubrication or grease lubrication;
it is the most close to the actual working condition of
high-speed bearing and is easy to operate for labora-
tory assistant. Meanwhile, high-speed performance
tests of angular contact ceramic ball bearings were car-
ried out under grease lubrication and oil mist lubrica-
tion, respectively; the relationships among speed, load,
and temperature were established. The experimental
platform will redound to bearing industry as well as the
grease industry.
Design of experimental platform
Key parameter of experimental platform
According to the actual working condition, extreme
working condition, and operating characteristics of
high-speed bearing, the experimental platform should
meet the main technical parameters:
1. The bearing bore diameter of the test bearing:
F15–F30 mm.
2. Maximum rotation speed: 60,000 r/min.
3. Radial loading range: 0.1–10 kN, which can be
adjusted continuously.
4. The axial loading range: 0.1–5 kN, which can be
adjusted continuously.
5. Lubrication form: oil mist lubrication and
grease lubrication.
6. Cooling method: circulation water cooling.
7. Control method: manual and automatic control
system.
8. Measurement: step-less adjustable, real-time
monitoring of bearing working condition; dis-
play, processing, and storage of the parameters;
proper treatment measures can be taken auto-
matically in system failure state.
Technical scheme of experimental platform
The experimental platform system consists of the drive
system, the test portion, the loading system, the cooling
system, the lubrication system, the control system, the
data acquisition system, and so on. The diagram of the
experimental platform system is shown in Figure 1.
Main body of the experimental platform
The main components of the experimental platform are
shown in Figure 2, which consist of the test spindle, the
Qiang et al.
Computer
Electric Control Cabinet
Converter Control
Electric
Spindle
Cooling Lubrication
System System
Figure 1. Experimental platform system diagram.
Figure 2. Blueprint of the main body.
1: base, 2: bush, 3: test spindle, 4: pressure bar, 5: head cover, 6: flexible coupling, 7: electric spindle, 8: temperature sensor.
test bearing, the load bearing, the load components,
the bearing bush, the cover, and the base. Also can be
seen from the figure are the temperature sensors mea-
suring the outer surface temperature of test bearings.
The geometrical structure of the whole experimental
platform is shown in Figure 3, which adopts the split
structure to facilitate disassembly; in order to enable
high rotation speed and stability of the test spindle, the
bearings for test are installed at both ends of the test
spindle with the load bearings in the middle; the test
bearings and load bearings are surrounded by circulat-
ing cooling water. In addition, the experimental plat-
form is expected to grease lubrication way and oil mist
lubrication way, so an oil inlet hole and an oil return
hole in the bearing bush and the base were designed; a
mounted gun was installed at the oil inlet base, whose
nozzle orientation is designed at an angle 15° from the
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3
Main body
Data Acquisition System
Temperature
Vibration
Current
Revolving
Loading
speed
System
Pressure
horizontal, so that the oil mist can directly be injected
into the rolling element of the bearing.
Structure design of test head
The structure of the test head has direct effect on relia-
bility and operating characteristics of the test machine,
which consists of the spindle, the testing bearings, the
loading bearings, the bearing bushes, the sleeve, the
spray gun, and so on. As shown in Figure 4, the test
head adopts symmetric structure, which is easy to
achieve a high speed and stability. A group of annular
springs were arranged to preload the outer ring of the
two sets of load bearing; it is beneficial to improve the
stiffness. The outer ring of the two sets of load bearing
is arranged on the radial loading sleeve with a circulat-
ing water channel, to play a role in extending the life of
4 Advances in Mechanical Engineering
Figure 3. Main body of the experimental platform.
Figure 4. Structure design of test head.
1: left bearing house; 2: axial load-adding sheath; 3: left end of the gland;
4: test spindle; 5: test bearings; 6: spacer bush; 7: load bearings; 8: load-
adding bushing; 9: spring; 10: pressure ring; 11: right bearing house; 12:
right end cover; 13: middle spray gun; 14: side spray gun.
the bearing. The test bearings adopting back-to-back
mounting are located at both ends of the test spindle,
while the load bearings adopting face-to-face mounting
are located in the middle. As shown in Figure 5, the
radial load sleeves with water channel are designed to
connect the circulate water cooling device on the outer
ring of the load bearings. On the right side of the two
pores of the sleeves, the orifices facing the inner ring
raceway of the test bearing are symmetrically pro-
cessed. In addition, the spray guns are installed at the
left side of the base to achieve oil mist lubrication. In
view of the high working temperature, the material of
the test spindle is processed by 38CrMoAlA nitriding,
while the bushes, the spacers, and other small linear
expansion coefficient parts are processed by 9Cr18
stainless steel.
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Figure 5. A disassembled test head.
Drive method
Usually, the drive mode uses the prime electromotor,
such as alternating current (AC) motor and direct cur-
rent (DC) motor, to produce rotational movement and
transmit it to the test bearing through the belt, the gear,
or the speed change mechanism. But these kinds of sys-
tems have poor reliability, large noise, and vibration;
the testing speed is also restricted. However, the motor-
ized spindle has advantages of light weight, small vibra-
tion, low noise, fast response, big power, and so on.
Therefore, the experimental platform adopts motorized
spindle with the power of 20 kW and the maximum
speed of 60,000 r/min; also, the step-less speed regula-
tion is realized by the frequency converter.
In addition, in order to avoid the vibration generated
during the test to pass onto the spindle, flexible joints
are used to connect the motorized spindle with the test
spindle, that is, nylon rope is used to connect the flange
on the motorized spindle with the corresponding holes
on the test spindle. This connection also reduces the
additional bending moment produced by bad concentri-
city of the test spindle and the motorized spindle, which
can improve the stability of the test spindle.
Loading method
Common loading methods of bearings are electric load-
ing, mechanical loading, and hydraulic loading.
Because the operative time of bearing is long and bear-
ing loads change frequently during operation, it is diffi-
cult for mechanical loading to achieve continuous and
automatic loading. Besides, the electric loading device
is large and it should not be used for a long time. Both
mechanical loading and electric loading are easy to pro-
duce the impact loads in loading process. On the con-
trary, hydraulic loadings have some characteristics of
light weight, good stability, good adjustability, easy
Qiang et al.
control, and so on. Therefore, the servo-hydraulic load-
ing is adopted for designing the experimental platform.
The motor drives hydraulic pump to work, and the
pressure oil is separated into two proportional pressure
reducing valves, which output the given pressure oil
under the control of the controller. In view of the effect
of oil pressure, the axial piston puts the axial load on
the outer ring of the bearing through the load-adding
sheath, and the radial piston puts the radial load on the
inner race of the bearing through the loading bearing
in the middle. There are coolers on the outlet to control
oil temperature and ensure oil pressure stable. The size
of the load is controlled by proportional pressure
reducing valve which can be set by computer.
Data acquisition and control system
The test parameters include the speed, the load, the
host current, the voltage, the bearing temperature, the
vibration, and so on. To make it possible to accurately
measure the bearing temperature and the shafting
vibration, both the platinum resistance temperature
sensors and the accelerometers are chosen and installed
on the bearing seat, 30° from the horizontal direction
and close to the outer ring of the bearing. The control
system of the experimental platform consists of the
electrical control system, the frequency conversion and
the speed governing systems, the load control systems,
and the computer measurement and control system. In
order to achieve precise control of the speed and the
load of bearing, the speed governing system and the
loading control system adopt the closed-loop control.
The voltage signal is given by the computer digital-to-
analog (D/A) output or manual adjustment instruction
potentiometer. The actual output value measured by
the corresponding sensor is sent back to the computer
through the transmitter. Then, after the proportional–
integral–derivative (PID) to control the speed and load
by the computer, the D/A output forms a closed-loop
control system. The block diagram of load closed-loop
control system is shown in Figure 6.
Electrical control mode can be divided into manual
control and automatic control. Automatic control
Figure 6. Load closed-loop control system block diagram.
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5
mode is determined by switch value outputted from
computer; on/off of all electrical equipments is con-
trolled through the power board. The signals of the
temperature, the pressure, the speed, and the vibration
are received and transformed by the analog-to-digital
(A/D) conversion board and can be read through the
display interface. To ensure the reliability and accuracy
of the critical data extracted during the test, a dual dis-
play mode (numeration table mode and computer
screen display mode) is designed to display the main
parameters in the test. In addition, computer-aided
monitoring system is used to judge, compute, dispose,
and store the real-time signal. The D/A conversion
board transforms and outputs analog voltage signals to
control the controlled portions, while the input/output
(I/O) conversion board outputs electrical equipment
working state of the control system. During the experi-
ment, the I/O board can detect abnormal situations
(water or air pressure under voltage, overload, etc.)
and output an alarming signal or automatically stop
the platform and then store the cause of the malfunc-
tion for later reviewing.
Performance of experimental platform
Bearing for test
The test bearings for high-speed grinding spindle
are angular contact ceramic ball bearings B7005C/
HQ1P4, and the structural parameters are shown in
Table 1.
Test process
Contrast tests of the ceramic ball bearing are conducted
under conditions of oil mist lubrication and grease
lubrication. Eight sets of bearings are selected under
each condition and two sets of bearings are used for
each test. Both test bearings and load bearings are
cooled by circulating water at temperature of 15°C.
The grease is Kluber L252; the oil of oil mist lubrica-
tion is 32 # turbine oil, whose pressure is 0.4 MPa; and
the amount of droplets is 30 drops/min. Under different
speeds and load conditions, the relationships among
6 Advances in Mechanical Engineering
Table 1. Structure parameters of angular contact ceramic ball bearing.
Type Volume (mm) Sphere
diameter (mm)
B7005C/HQ1P4 F25 3 F47 3 12 3.969
Figure 7. Bearing temperature versus the speed change.
the bearing temperature, the speed and the load can be
obtained by the experimental platform, and the tem-
perature rise in the bearing outer ring is used as the
parameter in the test. The test is divided into two steps:
first, the impact of the speed on bearing performance is
examined; when the axial load is Fa = 100 N and the
radial load is Fr = 50 N, the speed gradually increased
from 10,000 to 500,00 r/min ( accelerates 5000 revolu-
tions per minute every another hour from the start
speed to ultimate speed); then the bearing performance
at 10,000, 40,000, and 50,000 r/min under different
loads is investigated. The test is, respectively, carried
out under two conditions: one is about the fixed axial
load (Fa = 250 N) and the variable radial load, and the
other is about the fixed radial load (Fr = 150 N) and
the variable axial load.
Results and discussions
Variable rotating speed test
Stable temperature value at each rotation speed of each
set of bearing is obtained through the test; the tempera-
ture values of eight sets of bearings are averaged and
contrastively analyzed at different speeds. The relation-
ships between the temperature rise and the rotation
speed are shown in Figure 7. It is easy to see that the
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Boll number Original Cage material Ferrule material
contact angle
20 15° Phenolic cloth ZGCr15
laminated tube
bearing temperature increases rapidly along with the
increase in the speed. Meanwhile, the load, the speed,
and the time are the same; the temperature rise in the
outer ring of the bearing under the condition of grease
lubrication is higher than that under the condition of
oil mist lubrication, but when the speed is higher than
25,000 r/min or DN value is above 0.9 3 106 mm r/min,
two kinds of temperature curves nearly remain parallel
and the temperature difference is not more than 3°C.
Variable load test
The average values of the temperatures of eight sets of
bearings are analyzed. The relationship between the
temperature rise and the axial load at constant speed is
denoted by the curves in Figure 8. The relationship
between the temperature rise and the radial load at
constant speed is denoted by the curves in Figure 9.
Figure 8 shows that the bearings’ temperature
increased with the increase in axial load at constant
speed; when the axial load increased from 150 to 400 N,
at the speed of 10,000 r/min, the variation in the bearing
temperature under the condition of grease lubrication is
about 1.9°C which is less than that under the condition
of oil mist lubrication; when the speed reaches 40,000 r/
min, two curves basically overlap and the variation
under the condition of grease lubrication is about 0.2°C
which is more than that under the condition of oil mist
lubrication; when the speed is 50,000 r/min, oil mist
lubrication is slightly better than that for grease lubrica-
tion, and the temperature difference is about 1°C. The
curvilinear trends are almost the same in Figures 8 and
9. Under two kinds of lubrications, the temperature dif-
ference is 1.5°C, 0.8°C, and 2°C at the speeds of 10,000,
40,000, and 50000 r/min, respectively.
When the speed is lower than 40,000 r/min or the
DN value is smaller than 1.44 3 106 mm r/min, whether
the bearing is under the radial or axial variable load,
the temperature rise under the condition of grease lubri-
cation is lower than that under the condition of oil mist
lubrication. The reason is that the viscosity of grease
lubricant is higher than that of oil mist lubrication, and
the grease lubricant easily forms the lubricant film.
However, when the speed is higher than 40,000 r/min or
the DN value is more than 1.44 3 106 mm r/min, the
temperature rise under the condition of oil mist
Qiang et al. 7

Figure 8. Curve of bearing temperature rise with axial load at different speeds.

Figure 9. Curve of bearing temperature rise with radial load at different speeds.

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8 Advances in Mechanical Engineering
lubrication is higher than that under the condition of
grease lubrication.
Conclusion
In this article, design and application on experimental
platform for the high-speed motorized spindle bearing
are studied and investigated. Some important conclu-
sions are summarized as follows:
1. A experimental platform for high-speed grease
has been designed; it can imitate the actual
working state of the bearing by axial load and
radial load and test the functioning of the bear-
ings under different conditions. All the test data
can be automatically acquired and analyzed.
2. The performance of high-speed angular contact
ceramic ball bearings B7005C/HQ1P4 with
grease lubrication and oil mist lubrication is
tested and contrasted by the experimental plat-
form. Under the circulating water cooling condi-
tions, the speed is lower than 40,000 r/min or the
DN value is below 1.44 3 106 mm r/min; grease
can be considered for the high-speed spindle
with ceramic ball bearings, so that the lubrica-
tion system is greatly simplified for reducing
pollution.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial sup-
port for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article: The authors gratefully wish to acknowledge the sup-
ports of National Natural Science Foundation of China
(51105002) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation and
National Key Projects (2011ZX04002-132, 2012ZX04005-
021).
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