Novel oil-air distributor design and study on the viscosity properties of its oil spraying

作者：Zhang, Wenliang^*; Huang, Heng; Gao, Guogang; Xie, Xiaopeng

来源：INDUSTRIAL LUBRICATION AND TRIBOLOGY, 2022, 74(10): 1186-1192.

DOI：10.1108/ILT-05-2022-0156

• Oil-air lubrication
• Oil-air distributor
• Structure design
• Air bubble oil

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to design the novel oil-air distributor (N-OAD). Its structure design, oil feeding reliability, service life and viscosity properties of air bubble (AB) oil were analyzed. Meanwhile, the formation mechanism of AB oil was established based on Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Design/methodology/approach First, oil-air distributor (OAD) and N-OAD were randomly selected for testing when the air pressure was 0.25 MPa and oil feeding was 100 times per hour. Then, the bubbles were found in the lubricant during the experiment, and the void fraction and viscosity properties of AB oil were tested by image processing method and the MARS 40 rheometer, respectively. Findings N-OAD has longer service life and higher working reliability than OAD. The key factors of AB oil formation were air pressure and oil feeding. And the void fraction of AB oil has different results on the viscosity at high and low shear rates. Originality/value The outcome of this research paper gives an insight to improve the reliability of oil-air lubrication systems and the safety factor of machine tool spindle operation.