Mech. Mack. TheoryVol. 29. No. 6, pp. 847-853.

1994
Copyright ~ 1994ElsevierScienceLul
Pergamon 0094-114X(93)E0002-N Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
0094-114Xt~I,$7.00 + 0.00

DESIGN OF SPIRAL GROOVES ON A SPHERICAL BEARING

IHTZAZ QAMARt, S. W I L A Y A T H U S A I N , N U R U L M U S T A F A and

F. H. H A S H M I
Dr A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, P.O. Box 502, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

(Receired 9 November 1992: in rerisedform 23 August 1993: receit,ed for publication 20 October 1993)

Abstract--In the present paper we formulate a set of equations for logarithmic spiral grooves on a
spherical bearing. The grooves satisfy the condition that the angle between the velocity vector and the
tangent to the groove remains constant. A procedure is briefly described to make grooves on a spherical
ball. The results are then compared with those obtained using a simple equation for spiral grooves. It is
found that the shape of the grooves and the axial load capacity of the bearings are not significantly
different in the two cases.

NOMENCLATURE
r, 0, ~b--Spherical coordinates
0,, ~,--Values of angles at the start of spiral
0,, ~,--Values of angles at the end of spiral
ro--Pre°exponential in two dimensional logarithmic
spiral equations
c. ct,cz--Pre-exponentials in three-dimensional logarith-
mic spiral equations
k. k,, k 2 --Constants in the exponents in the spiral equations
R--Radius of spherical ball
•--Angle between velocity vector and tangent to the
groove
dx--The displacement of a point in space
I, m, n-Unit vectors in the Natural Frame
Pz---Dimensionless axial load capacity
g.--A function of geometrical parameters of the
groove

INTRODUCTION
T h e objects rotating a r o u n d vertical axis are supported by thrust bearings which transmit a force
in the axial direction. Such bearings consist o f two surfaces separated by a viscous fluid; one surface
is grooved while the other is ungrooved. T h e grooves provide an inherent property to the bearings
that they build up their own pressure due to the p u m p i n g o f viscous fluid through the grooves.
T h e thrust bearings m a y by flat, conical or spherical in shape and the grooves m a y be parallel or
spiral in nature. In the case o f spiral grooves, the o p t i m u m pressure is built up only if ~, the angle
between the tangent to the groove and the local velocity, vector remains constant at all points. F o r
a plane spiral groove bearing, M u i j d e r m a n [i] has shown that the grooves must be logarithmic in
nature to ensure a constant angle, co. T h e two-dimensional logarithmic spiral, in polar coordinates,
is represented by the following relationship:

r -- r0 ~', (I)
where
k -- tan(~).

Although plane bearings have m a n y applications, the spherical spiral groove bearings are preferred
where a reasonable axial lift is required at a very high rotational velocity; the frictional losses must
be kept to a m i n i m u m and a consistent p e r f o r m a n c e over a long period is desired. In addition,
a spherical bearing is easier to center and can also take radial load to a limited extent [2]. In analogy
to the two-dimensional case, a three-dimensional spiral on the surface o f a spherical bearing ball

tTo whom all correspondence should be addressed.

MMT :'~tl~- E 847

8.18 Iwrzaz QAMAI~et al.

could be described by the following set of equations;

= c, e*'~, (2)
r ~ R ,

where R is the radius of the sphere and the location of any point P can be expressed in terms of
spherical coordinates (r. O, dp) as shown in Fig. i. The parameters k~ and c~ are defined by the starting
and the ending point of the spiral. Equation (2) has been used, in our earlier work [3] to design a flat
negative pattern for the photoetching of grooves on a spherical bearing. The emphasis in the earlier
work was on the set up of a procedure for making the flat negative pattern. The form of equation
expressing the spherical spiral was not critically examined• In the following we show that the angle
~, does not remain constant at all points on the curve expressed by equation (2). We then derive a set
of equations for a logarithmic spiral curve running on a spherical surface satisfying the condition of
being constant. The grooves obtained using the original equation and the modified equation are
then compared.

FORMULATION
For simplicity, we use the so called Natural Frame of Reference [4] which is also shown in Fig. ( I ).
In this frame the unit vectors I, m and n form a right-hand system such that at each point P in space,
I points in the direction of increasing r, m points in the direction of increasing ,/, and n points in the
direction of increasing 0. The displacement of the point P would then be given by
dx = I dr + mr dO + nr sin(O) dO. (3)
When the point moves on the surface of a sphere, dr = 0 and the displacement equation reduces to
dx = mr d~b + nr sin(~b) dO. (3a)
If the bearing ball rotates around z-axis, the vector n would be in the direction of the velocity vector.

Z
X.

I
,
~,",~.. ...-%
E nd - - I
I .. \

| ..
• --4 . . . . . -

s / "
y. /
s

/-i 'J ~" --m

Y
\
_ _ _
\
\ I
\ I
I
iII //

_\ j. . i

x i
Z
Fig. I. A logarithmic spiral curve, on a sphere, running from (R. 0.90 ) to ( R . 360 , 30 ). A point P on
the curve has been specified by spherical and Cartesian coordinates. Unit vectors representing the Natural
Frame at point P are also shown.
 Spiral grooves on a spherical bearing 849

The direction of the tangent would be given by the displacement vector dx. The angle, a, between
the tangent and the velocity vector would then be given by
• dO dO
tan(~t)= = (4)
• sin($) dO sin(oh)dO
This relation can be used to ascertain whether ~tremains constant at all points along the spiral.For
the spiral represented by equation (2) the angle ~twould be given by
k,O
tan(a) = sin(0)' (5)

which shows that ~t does not remain constant and varies with 0.
Next, we use equation (4) to find a curve for which ~t remains constant. For this we solve the
equation
dO
tan(0t) = = k. (6)
sin(0) d0
Rearranging equation (6) and integrating

f silO)
dO =fkdO.
which finally gives
O = 2 tan-'(c e*°),
where the constants c and k can be determined using the specification of start (R, 0,, 0,) and end
(R, 0~, 0,) points of the groove. Therefore the following set of equations represents the logarithmic
spiral curve running along the surface of a sphere, satisfying the condition that the angle • remains
constant:
O = 2 tan-'(c, e k2°) (7)
r -~ R .

R E S U L T S AND D I S C U S S I O N
The grooves are generally made on the bearing ball using the photoctching technique. Different
portions of the ball are sequentially exposed through a single fiat negative. The design of the fiat
negative can be made using computer graphics as explained in detail in our earlier work [3]. Here,
we briefly describe the procedure and compare the results obtained using equation (2) with those
using equation (7).
Figure (2) compares the two spiral curves on a spherical ball as viewed along z-axis. One curve
is obtained using equation (2) and the other using equation (7). It is seen that the two curves are
very similar to each other. A groove is taken to be the space bounded by two sprial curves [each
expressed by equation (2) or equation (7)] separated by the desired width of the groove. For the
purpose of illustration we assume that eight grooves are to be made using four exposures. Each
groove starts at ~, = 90 ° and, after spiralling through A0 = 270 °, ends at ~ = 30 °. The width 60 in
our comparison case is taken as 15°. The fiat negative pattern is obtained by projecting a selected
portion of the grooves on to the projection plane, i.e. the fiat negative. The portion of the grooves
is selected depending on the number of exposures used. Since, in the present case, the grooves are
to be made in four exposures, the sphere is divided into four equal parts. For each part, ~ varies
from 0 to 90 ° whereas 0 would vary from 0 to 90 °, 90 ° to 180°, 180° to 270 ° and 270 ° to 360 ° for
each of the four parts, respectively. For best results, the projection plane is not kept normal to z-axis
but makes an angle ~, + (~, - 0,)/2, where 0, and #~, correspond to start and end points of the
grooves. In the present case, this angle would be 60% Since the projection plane is not normal to
z-axis, various points on the grooves are graphically transformed using geometric transformations
and then projected on to the projection plane. Figure (3) shows the fiat negative pattern which is
used to make eight grooves in four exposures using equation (7). In Fig. (4) the pattern using
equation (7) is compared with that using equation (2). Note that, to ensure proper overlap between
successive exposures, each groove has been extended through dO -- 3 °.
8511 IHTZAZQAMAReta/.

...." ~ / • 30"

..'-- OSSgO ."

Fig. 2. The comparison of two spiral curves on a sphere viewed along :-axis. The curves start at a circle
defined by 4', - ~ " and. after spiralling through AO ,~ 270~, end at ~, = 30'. Curve I corresponds to
equation (21 while curve 2 corresponds to equation (7).

In the following, the procedure o f geometric transformations and projection is briefly de-
scribed [5]. Since the Cartesian coordinates are generally used in transformations, the spherical
coordinates o f the point P on a groove are first converted into the Cartesian coordinates using the
following relations:
x = R sin(¢~) cos(0),
y -- R sin(b) sin(0),
,: = R c o s ( # , ) .

Fig 3. The fiat negative pattern for eight grooves in four exposures The grooves conform to equation
(7) The dotted lines representing the spherical segment are not a part of the pattern.
 Spiral g r o o m on a spherical bearing 851

f
/ x
j X
/ X

Fig. 4. The comparison of patterns obtained using equation (7) and equation (2). Dotted curves
correspond to grooves using equation (2).

The homogeneous coordinates of a point in space are presented by a vector (x, y, z, w) where w
is taken as unity. If this point is rotated about the z-axis by an angle z, the new point
(x*,y*,z*, w*) will be given by the following transformation:

x1
y*
Z*
=
cos(z)
sin(z)
0
sin O!lEi1
cos(.-) 0
0 I
W* 0 0 0

Similarly, transformation matrices for rotations about x- and y-axes may be defined. For a
compound transformation, the individual matrices are multiplied in the desired sequence and the
resultant matrix is used to transform the coordinates of the original point in space. For example
the rotation about the z-axis followed by the rotation about y-axis will be represented by the
R= .R, matrix. This compound transformation has in fact been used in the present case. The
resulting homogeneous coordinates are changed to three-dimensional coordinates by dividing
x*,y* and z* by w*. To project the transformed points onto the viewing plane, z* is set equal
tO z e r o .
We now examine the variation of = with ~. Using the boundary conditions of the example
discussed above, we find that kl ffi -0.233. Using this value in equation (5), we find the variation
of I=,1 with ~ as shown in Fig. (5). The same boundary conditions provide the value of k2 as
-0.279 from which the value of I==1 comes out to be 15.6° which is independent of ¢.
Let us now see the effect of varying ,, on the axial load capacity of the bearing. For the
concentrically operating spherical bearing, Bootsma [6] has shown that the dimensionless axial
load capacity, Pz, is given by

~= -- 4ngt, (8)

where g~ is a complicated function of the geometrical parameters of the grooves, i.e. width,
separation between two successive grooves, depth of grooves and the angle ~. Using this equation,
with a groove depth and film thickness, both equal to l0 #m, we find that for the case of constant
(15.6 °) the value of ibz comes out to be 0.58. For the case where • does not remain constant,
852 hcrzAz Q ~ . R et ad.

26

22

18

16
~] ts.6

12

10
3O ,~ ' ~ ' 90
W Idl~J}
Fig. 5. The variation in = (the angle between velocity vector and tangent to the 8roove) with ~. ,%
con~'sponds to equation (2) while =2 corresponds to equation (7). The boundary conditions used
correspond to the example discussed in the text.

0.7 ................................

0.6 _o.ss. _ _ ,~

,~ 0.5 /
J
0.4 ~ IX2=15'6
/
0.3 - , 1. ,
10 12 14 16 18 20

Fig. 6. The variation in the dimensionless axial load capacity, ,Bz, with the angle ,,. The value of ,eL
corresponding to ~, is also shown.

equation (8) cannot b¢ used to calculate ~z. However, for the sake of comparison we
have calculated /5z for various values of ~. This variation of ~z with ~ is shown in Fig. (6). It
should bc noted that the variation in ~z is within +0.2 of the value corresponding to the case of
constant ~.

CONCLUSIONS
The spiral g r o o v e expressed by equation (2) does not fulfill the necessary condition for o p t i m u m
pressure build up, i.e. ~, the angle between velocity vector and tangent to the groove, does not
remain constant. This condition is satisfied by the modified relation expressed by equation (7).
However, the grooves obtained by using both the equations are similar to each other. T h o u g h the
axial load capacity o f the bearing changes with ~, the variation a r o u n d the mean value is not very
significant.

Acknowledgement--The authors are indebted to Mr E. A. Khokhar for critical comments and illuminating discussions.
 Spiral grooves on a spherical bearing 853

REFERENCES
1. E. A. Muijderman. Spiral Groove Bearings, p. 24. MacMillan. London (1966).
2. E. A. Muijderman. Philips Tech. Rev. 25, (10), 270 (1964).
3. l. Qamar, N. Mustafa, S. W. Husain and F. H. Hashmi. Computers Graph. 15, 417 0991).
4. H. Flanders. R. R. Korfhage and J. J. Price, Calculus, p. 814. Academic Press. New York (1970).
5. R. A. Plastock and G. Kalley, Schaum's Outline of Computer Graphics. McGraw-Hill. New York, 0986).
6. J. Bootsma, Liquid-Lubricated SpiraI-Groore Bearings. Philips Res. Repts. Suppl. 7, 120 (1975).

~BER DIE AUSLEGUNG SPIRALER NUTEN AN EINEM KUGELIGEN

Zmammenfuung--ln dem vorliegenden lkitrag habcn wir einen Satz von Gleichungea ffir Iogarithmische
Spiralnuten an einem kugeligen Lager erstellt. Die Nuten erfv311endie Bedingung. dab der Winkel zwischen
dem Gcschwindigkeitsvektor und dem Tangens an die Nut immer gleich bleibt. Ein verfahren ffir die
Herstellung der Nut an die Kugel ist dabei be~hrieben. Die Ergebniss¢ sind dann mit den yon ¢iner
einfachen Gleichung ffir Spiralnut resultierenden Ergebnissen verglichen. Es zeigt, dab die Nutform und
das Axiallxanspruchung-sverm6gen der Lager in beiden Fallen keinen wvstlichen Unterschied habcn.