Aero-engine bearing and retainer structure thereof

Abstract

The invention provides an aero-engine bearing retainer structure, and belongs to the technical field of aero-bearings, the outer surface of a retainer is provided with a plurality of through grooves, the through grooves are distributed in the circumferential direction and located between two adjacent rolling bodies, and the through grooves are parallel to the axis of a bearing. According to the aero-engine bearing retainer, the gap between the retainer and the outer ring is increased through the arranged through grooves, heat dissipation is facilitated, meanwhile, more lubricating oil can be stored in the through grooves, the lubricating oil has the cooling function, and therefore heat dissipation can be better achieved. Besides, for an aero-engine bearing, particularly a bearing with the retainer guided by the outer ring, the gap between the retainer and the inner ring is large, the gap between the retainer and the outer ring is small, larger pollutants can enter from the gap between the retainer and the inner ring and stay near the gap between the retainer and the outer ring, the gap is increased by the through groove, and the pollutants can be prevented from entering the through groove. And pollutants can be automatically discharged along with the lubricating oil.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the field of aerospace bearing technology, and specifically relates to an aero-engine bearing and its cage structure. Background Technology

[0002] The cage is a crucial component of a bearing, its function being to evenly distribute the rolling elements within the bearing and to guide their directional movement. There are three cage guidance methods: inner ring guidance, outer ring guidance, and rolling element guidance. Outer ring guidance is generally used for high-speed, stable load applications, its advantages being that it facilitates the entry of lubricating oil into the guide surface and raceway, and helps correct the cage's position. However, due to the high speed and heavy load of aero-engine bearings, resulting in high bearing load and significant heat generation, conventional outer ring guided bearing cages have a very small clearance between the outer ring and the cage. During bearing operation, due to centrifugal force, contaminants entering the bearing are difficult to expel. When contaminants enter between the rolling elements and the raceway, they can damage the surface of the raceway or rolling elements, increasing the probability of bearing failure and reducing bearing reliability. Simultaneously, due to centrifugal force, the lubricating oil entering the bearing takes longer to exit compared to inner ring guided cages, resulting in relatively higher turbulence heat, which is detrimental to bearing operation. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of this application is to provide an aircraft engine bearing and its cage structure to solve or mitigate at least one of the problems in the prior art.

[0004] The technical solution of this application is: an aircraft engine bearing cage structure, wherein the outer surface of the cage is provided with a plurality of through grooves, the through grooves are distributed in the circumferential direction and located between two adjacent rolling elements, and the through grooves are parallel to the axis of the bearing.

[0005] In a preferred embodiment of this application, the through slot is a rectangular structure.

[0006] In a preferred embodiment of this application, the structural dimensional parameters of the through groove include width L, depth D, root fillet R1, and edge fillet R2. The dimensions of the root fillet R1 and edge fillet R2 are determined based on factors such as bearing heat generation, cage strength, and lubricating oil contaminant particle size.

[0007] In a preferred embodiment of this application, the number of through slots is determined based on the bearing dynamic balance and the degree of weakening of the cage strength, and the number of through slots is minimized while meeting the requirements for heat dissipation and drainage capacity.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment of this application, the number of through slots is an approximation of the number of rolling elements.

[0009] In addition, this application also provides an aircraft engine bearing, comprising:

[0010] Outer ring;

[0011] Inner circle;

[0012] The rolling element located between the inner and outer rings; and

[0013] The aforementioned cage has rolling elements mounted on it, which are positioned between the inner and outer rings by the cage.

[0014] The aircraft engine bearing cage provided in this application increases the clearance between the cage and the outer ring through a through groove, which is beneficial for heat dissipation. Simultaneously, the through groove can store more lubricating oil, which itself has a cooling effect, thus improving heat dissipation. Furthermore, for aircraft engine bearings—especially those with outer ring-guided cages—the clearance between the cage and the inner ring is large, while the clearance between the cage and the outer ring is small. Larger contaminants can enter through the clearance between the cage and the inner ring and remain near the clearance between the cage and the outer ring. The through groove increases the clearance, facilitating the automatic discharge of contaminants with the lubricating oil. Attached Figure Description

[0015] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions provided in this application, the accompanying drawings will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings described below are merely some embodiments of this application.

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a typical aircraft engine bearing.

[0017] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the aircraft engine bearing of this application.

[0018] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the cage structure dimensions of this application.

[0019] Figure 4 This is a perspective view of the cage in this application. Detailed Implementation

[0020] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0021] like Figure 1The diagram shows a typical aero-engine bearing structure. This bearing structure 10 includes an outer ring 11, an inner ring 12, rolling elements 13, and a cage 14. The cage 14 is guided by the outer ring 11, and the gap between them is small. During the operation of the aero-engine bearing, lubricating oil discharge is slow, the turbulence heat is high, and contaminants are difficult to remove. To address the problems of poor heat dissipation performance and high operating temperature in existing aero-engine bearings, as well as the problem of poor contaminant removal capacity, this application provides a novel aero-engine structure and its cage structure.

[0022] like Figure 2 The diagram shows a schematic of an aero-engine bearing structure providing heat dissipation and sewage discharge capabilities, as provided in this application. The bearing structure 20 includes an outer ring 21, an inner ring 22, rolling elements 23, and a cage 24. The rolling elements 23 are disposed between the inner ring 22 and the outer ring 21 and are held by the cage 24. The cage 24 is guided by the outer ring 21; that is, the gap between the cage 24 and the outer ring 21 is significantly smaller than the gap between the cage 24 and the inner ring 22, and the gap between the cage 24 and the outer ring 21 is also small. For example, the gap between the cage 24 and the outer ring 21 can be controlled within the range of 0.1mm to 0.5mm, and the specific value can be determined according to the bearing type, size, speed, load, and other operating conditions. The outer surface of the cage 24 has multiple circumferentially distributed through grooves 25, which are parallel to the bearing axis.

[0023] The aircraft engine bearing cage provided in this application increases the clearance between the cage 24 and the outer ring 21 through the through groove 25, which is beneficial for heat dissipation. At the same time, the through groove 25 can store more lubricating oil, and since the lubricating oil itself has a cooling effect, it can dissipate heat better. In addition, for aircraft engine bearings—especially bearings where the cage 24 is guided by the outer ring 21—the clearance between the cage 24 and the inner ring 22 is large, while the clearance between the cage 24 and the outer ring 21 is very small. Slightly larger contaminants can enter through the clearance between the cage 24 and the inner ring 22 and remain near the clearance between the cage 24 and the outer ring 21. The through groove 25 increases the clearance, which facilitates the automatic discharge of contaminants with the lubricating oil.

[0024] In a preferred embodiment of this application, by adjusting the structure and size of the through slot 25, stress concentration in the through slot 25 can be reduced, or the heat dissipation effect provided by the through slot 25 can be improved. For example... Figure 3 As shown, the through groove 25 is rectangular, and its structural dimensions include width L, depth D, root fillet R1, and edge fillet R2. By considering factors such as bearing heat generation, cage strength, and lubricating oil contaminant particle size, the dimensions of the root fillet R1 and edge fillet R2 are determined. When optimizing the stress concentration of the through groove 25, the above structural parameters can be adjusted and the bearing structure can be simulated by finite element method.

[0025] In this application, the through groove 25 is located between the two rolling elements 23, and the number of through grooves 25 is determined based on the bearing dynamic balance and the degree of weakening of the cage strength. While meeting the requirements for heat dissipation and drainage, the number of through grooves 25 should be minimized to ensure the strength of the cage 24. Furthermore, the number of through grooves 25 also needs to consider the number of rolling elements 23. Preferably, the number of through grooves 25 is an approximation of the number of rolling elements 23. For example, when the number of rolling elements 23 is 12, the number of through grooves 25 can be designed as 3, 4, 6, or 12. Figure 4 The diagram shown is a schematic of the cage structure when the number of through slots is 3 and the number of rolling elements is 12 in this embodiment of the present application.

[0026] The aero-engine bearing cage structure of this application, by setting through slots, serves to improve heat dissipation and contaminant removal capabilities, thereby reducing the operating temperature of the bearing, reducing foreign matter in the bearing, and ultimately improving the bearing's lifespan and reliability.

[0027] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A bearing cage structure for an aircraft engine, characterized in that, The outer surface of the cage (24) is provided with a plurality of through grooves (25), which are distributed in the circumferential direction and located between two adjacent rolling elements (23), and the through grooves (25) are parallel to the axis of the bearing.

2. The aircraft engine bearing cage structure as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The through slot (25) has a rectangular structure.

3. The aircraft engine bearing cage structure as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The structural dimensions of the through groove (25) include width L, depth D, root fillet R1 and edge fillet R2, wherein the dimensions of root fillet R1 and edge fillet R2 are determined based on factors such as bearing heat generation, cage strength and lubricating oil contaminant particle size.

4. The aircraft engine bearing cage structure as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The number of through slots (25) is determined based on the bearing dynamic balance and the degree of weakening of the cage strength. In order to meet the requirements of heat dissipation and sewage discharge, the number of through slots (25) should be minimized.

5. The aircraft engine bearing cage structure as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The number of through slots (25) is an approximation of the number of rolling elements (23).

6. An aircraft engine bearing, characterized in that, include: Outer ring (21); Inner circle (22); The rolling element (23) located between the inner ring (22) and the outer ring (21); and The rolling element (23) is disposed on the cage (24) as described in any one of claims 1 to 5 and is limited between the inner ring (22) and the outer ring (21) by the cage (24).

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