• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.278-282
• /
• 2005

Deep groove ball bearing is installed in a control element of an integral nuclear reactor, where water is used as coolant and lubricant. This bearing is made of STS440C stainless steel for the raceways and the balls to use in radioactive environment and water. It is known that the retainer design affects ball bearing operability and endurance life, however there is no verified retainer design and material for water lubricated ball bearing. Four kinds of retainers are manufactured for the endurance test of water lubricated deep groove ball bearing. Three of them are commercially developed types and the other is designed for this research. It is verified that ball bearings with steel pressed and general plastic retainer can not survive to required life in the water, however bearings with machined type and cylinder type retainer can survive. This proves that one of the major design parameters for water lubricated ball bearing is retainer type and material. In this paper, experimental research of endurance test for water-lubricated ball bearing are reported.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.7-15
• /
• 2008

Currently existing high-accuracy and high-speed die sets used in reciprocal press create scratches at the surface of guide posts, steel balls, and bushes due to vertical movement of balls with point-contacts between inner surface of bushes and guide posts. Consequently, accuracy of the die set and the life span of the metal mold are reduced. However, those scratches could reduce the pre-load of the steel ball. This research designed and developed a groove-type die set which improves life span of the die set by eliminating point-contacts of steel balls with guide posts. The guide post consisted of a steel-ball retainer, a steel-ball retainer stopper, a guide bush, a guide pin, a snap ring, and a spring. The steel-ball retainer has 72 holes with 8 columns of 9 holes in each column. The inner surface of the guide bush was grinded(surface roughness: $Ra\;\\;0.2{\mu}m$, accuracy: $0\;{\sim}\;-0.002mm$) after NC turning and heat treatment. Also, a line of small intermediate pocket was processed inside of the guide bush for lubrication and elimination of foreign materials. Guide grooves of steel balls were processed using a wire EDM(Electrical Discharge Machining) after heat treatment. With such a design of the guide post stated above, loads against steel balls could be dispersed greatly by the line contacts through the guide groove between the guide post and the guide bush, and the life span of the guide post could be expanded semi-permanently.