Study on the effect of diketone lubricant on the tribological properties of angular contact ball bearings with skidding behavior
Authors: DU Shaonan, ZHANG Chenhui, LUO Zhi
Skidding in angular contact ball bearings significantly increases friction, wear, and temperature, adversely affecting bearing performance and service life. Despite its critical impact, systematic investigations of lubrication behavior under skidding conditions remain scarce, with conventional lubricants often failing to provide stable low-friction operation. To address this gap, this study first calculated critical skidding parameters using a quasi-static model. Subsequently, experimental parameters for bearings with and without skidding were selected to evaluate tribological behaviors under three lubricants: base oil, commercial lubricant, and a diketone-based lubricant (PAO = 14 (20%)). Results demonstrate that under skidding conditions, the diketone lubricant achieved the lowest coefficient of friction (COF) of 0.0008 and temperature rise of 2.8 °C. Furthermore, diketone-lubricated bearings exhibited excellent anti-wear performance and an extremely short running-in period. The superior tribological performance is attributed to the synergistic effect of diketone molecular adsorption and chelation with iron atoms, which reduces friction and temperature rise. These findings highlight the potential of diketone lubricants to enhance bearing performance and durability under extreme operating conditions.
