Performance of high-speed ball bearings with lead and lead-alloy-plated retainers in liquid hydrogen at 1.2 million DN
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Brewe, D. E..
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Ball bearings with lead- and lead-alloy-coated retainers were operated in liquid hydrogen at 30,000 rpm under a thrust load of 400 lb. Bearing lives were compared using different: (1) lead- and lead-alloy coatings, (2) coating thicknesses, (3) substrate materials, (4) retainer locating surfaces, and (5) plating techniques. Longer bearing run times were achieved using retainers with a lead-tin-copper alloy coating electroplated onto a leaded-bronze material and an aluminum-bronze alloy. Thirty percent of the bearings tested achieved the desired objective of 10 hours. All of the lead-alloy coated retainers exceeded this objective. A coating thickness of at least 0.0014 in. was used for all bearings exceeding the 10-hour goal.
Forty-millimeter-bore ball bearings with lead- and lead-alloy-coated retainers were operated in liquid hydrogen at 30,000 rpm under a thrust load of 1780 N (400 lb.) Four different substrate materials were used for the retainer. Longer bearing run times were achieved with a lead-tin-copper alloy coating plated onto a leaded-bronze material (22.5 hr) and an aluminum-bronze alloy (19.3 hr). One bearing with a pure lead coating achieved the desired objective of 10 hr. This bearing had an aluminum - bronze substrate retainer and ran successfully for 12.4 hr. Additions of antimony to the lead provided an alloy coating with better wear resistance than pure lead; however, this coating was abrasive to the outer-race lands.
Ball bearings (40-mm bore) with lead coated, aluminum-bronze retainers were operated successfully in liquid hydrogen at 30,000 rpm under a thrust load of 1780 newtons (400 lb) for running times up to 15 hours. The lead transfer films on the bearing surfaces prevented galling of bearing components. The lead coated retainers used in this investigation show promise for use in the high radiation environments, where polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) based materials are not suitable. Failure was a result of the loss of lead lubricant on the retainer-inner-land and ball-pocket surfaces. The longest bearing life (15 hr) was achieved with a lead coating thickness of 50 micrometers (0.002 in.) on the retainer. Other bearings had lives of 2 to 6 hours.
Determination of bearing torque for burnished molybdenum disulfide ball bearings
Cooling requirements of ball bearings lubricated by glass fiber filled PTFE retainers in cold hydrogen gas
Cooling requirements for high speed polytetrafluorethylene lubricated ball bearings operating in cold hydrogen gas, developing minimum gas flow rate equation
Cooling requirements for high speed polytetrafluoethylene lubricated ball bearings operating in cold hydrogen gas, developing minimum gas flow rate equation
Ball bearings lubrication and wear in cryogenic hydrogen turbopumps by transfer films provided from self lubricating cage
Cooling requirements of ball bearings operating in low flow rate hydrogen gas
Lubrication, design, and material requirements of ball bearings in liquid hydrogen turbopumps
Relative wear of low and high temperature self lubricating polytetrafluoroethylene cage materials tested in ball bearings operating at high speeds at various temperatures
Wear characteristics of low and high temperature self lubricating bearing cage materials
Formation and life histories of transfer films of self-lubricating retainer materials on ball bearings operating in hydrogen gas at 33 deg K