A comparative study on simulation and experiment of oil-air lubrication unit for high speed bearing

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to design an oil-air lubrication system with low temperature rise, vibration and noise simplifies the spindle configuration. The oil-air lubrication unit is a key component for high-speed grinding machine tools. The development of oil-air lubrication unit suitable for high/ultrahigh rotational speed is a daunting task owing to the lubrication challenges. Design/methodology/approach This paper emphasizes three main issues: the analysis of oil-air two-phase flow for tradition oil-air lubrication unit with the simulation method; the design of new oil-air lubrication unit for the high/ultrahigh-speed grinding machine tools and the comparative experiment research of tradition and new oil-air lubrication unit. The optimum structure parameters that create the optimum flow pattern and operating conditions resulting in low temperature increase, vibration and noise of oil-air lubricated spindle can be achieved by the simulation method and experiments. Findings The simulation and experimental results show that new oil-air lubrication unit lubricating a high speed electric spindle has a better performance with a small temperature increase and vibration, which means that our proposed method is an effective design method for oil-air lubrication system. Originality/value A design method suitable for high-speed oil-air lubrication unit is proposed. New oil-air lubrication unit is expected to apply for high/ultrahigh rotational speed grinding machine tools.