Lubricating characteristics and motion characteristics of a rolling piston for rotary compressors in air conditioners

To investigate the lubricating characteristics between the rolling piston and the vane, as well as the characteristics of rotating motion of the rolling piston in a rotary compressor, we perform a numerical analysis of the rolling piston and vane motion. The analysis considers mixed lubrication of the vane sliding surface to calculate the friction force between the vane and the vane slot. We find that the relative sliding velocity between the rolling piston and the vane can be reduced by reducing the rolling piston weight, and that the maximum PV value during one crank revolution between the rolling piston and the vane decreases due to the increased vane slot length in high-rotating-frequency regions.