Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Lubricant Recycling in Porous Polyimide Retainers of Bearing

Porous polyimide (PI) materials are one of important bearing retainer materials in space applications due to the storage and continuous supply of a lubricant through the porous structure. Understanding the lubricant recycling process in porous polyimide retainers is of vital importance to improve lubricant supply performance of bearing. In this work, through molecular dynamic simulations, coarse-grained models are built to study lubricant recycling processes on porous and solid surfaces. A spontaneous imbibition behavior is observed when the lubricant is present on the porous surface. The dynamic change in the contact angle in this process and the deviation of the effective radius from the volumetric radius because of the molecular structure of polyimide causes the classical Lucas-Washburn (L-W) equation fail to describe the process. By fitting dynamic contact angle and effective radius, a modified L-W equation is developed, which well predicts the process of imbibition. Furthermore, it is found that the lubricants between the porous polyimide surface and the solid surface are recycled by extrusion, and spontaneous imbibition does not occur. In this case, the accumulation of lubricant pressure and weak interfacial interaction between the lubricant and the solid surface are also the main factors that promote lubricant recycling.