Influence of Pits on the Tribological Properties and Friction-Induced Vibration Noise of Textured Tapered Roller Bearings

This study analyzed the influence of pits on the tribological properties and friction-induced vibration noise of textured tapered roller bearings under starved lubrication. Laser marking equipment was used to fabricate pits on the outer ring surface. A vertical universal friction and wear testing machine was used to measure the friction force, vibration acceleration, and noise signals of tapered roller bearings. The difference between the pit texture surface and smooth surface in terms of friction wear and vibration noise performance was studied. The results show that the friction force and wear loss of the pit-textured surfaces are markedly lower than those on the smooth surface. Compared to smooth surface bearings, the friction force and wear loss were reduced by 45.1 and 62.5%, respectively, when the diameter, depth, and area density of the pit were 200 μm, 10 μm, and 24%, respectively. The pit-textured surface exhibited good potential for vibration absorption and noise suppression. The friction force of the pit-textured tapered roller bearings is crucial for generating the vibration noise of the friction pair system. It can effectively interfere with the self-excited vibration of the tapered roller-bearing friction pair system. It thereby reduces the degree of vibration noise of the tapered roller bearings.