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Engine sealing programs are discussed which are directed toward the two major classes of engine seals: engine shaft seals and primary gas path seals. In addition, some concepts and results from fundamental lubrication research, as it pertains to the lubrication of bearings, are presented.
The viscosities of a number of liquid lubricants and lubricant formulations, determined as function of pressure, temperature, and shear stress by means of a high-pressure capillary viscometer, are reviewed. Where possible, these results are compared with those obtained by other techniques (optical elastohydrodynamics, oscillating crystal, and low shear capillary viscometry).
Shear stress independent behavior observed for representative, synthetic, nonblended lubricants is found to be of the same magnitude as the shear stress in sliding elastohydrodynamic contacts. It is shown that dissipation heating is the only mechanism of importance in the generation of deviations from constant viscosity as measured with capillary tube viscometric methods. Newtonian end corrections for capillary tubes are found to be constant for nonblended liquid lubricants.
Testing of both fluid and solid lubricants in small ball bearings is reported for a period of up to one year in various environments. The testing equipment, procedures and detailed results of five different lubricants, operating in a vacuum at ambient temperature, are described. Specially made motors were shimmed to maintain a 2.27 kg thrust load on both bearings, having a speed of 3600 rpm allowing 216,000 revolutions on each bearing per hour until failure. The commercial perfluoropolyether (PFPE-1) grease, having the best results, was recommended for long term bearing operation under hard vacuum conditions. It had an average life of over 8760 hrs. The ester based grease was recommended for moderate life requirements in vacuum conditions, while the silicone based grease and the fluorosilicone based grease were not recommended for vacuum operation due to extensive metal damage in the bearings.
The influence of lubricant starvation on minimum film thickness was investigated by moving the inlet boundary closer to the contact center. The following expression was derived for the dimensionless inlet distance at the boundary between the fully flooded and starved conditions: m* = 1 + 3.06 ((R/b)(R/b)H) to the power 0.58, where R is the effective radius of curvature, b is the semiminor axis of the contact ellipse, and H is the central film thickness for fully flooded conditions. A corresponding expression was also given based on the minimum film thickness for fully flooded conditions. Therefore, for m m*, starvation occurs and, for m m*, a fully flooded condition exists. Two other expressions were also derived for the central and minimum film thicknesses for a starved condition. Contour plots of the pressure and the film thickness in and around the contact are shown for the fully flooded and starved lubricating conditions, from which the film thickness was observed to decrease substantially as starvation increases.
Eight different graphite fluoride compounds with fluorine to carbon ratios varying from 0.25 to 1.1 were evaluated as burnished films in order to determine the effect of fluorine content on the solid lubricant properties of graphite fluoride. For comparison, similar experiments were conducted on graphite burnished films. It was found that even a small amount of fluorine in graphite fluoride with fluorine to carbon ratio of 0.25 improved the lubricating properties of graphite. However, such factors as burnishing atmosphere, burnishing technique, test atmosphere, and specimen temperature affected the results as much as varying the fluorine to carbon ratio of the compound. Best life was found for films that were machine-burnished in moist air and tested in moist air.
The paper deals with experimental measurement of bearing torque and 'percentage of lubrication' in instrument size (R6) bearings. The primary parameter found to affect bearing performance for several lubricant investigations is base viscosity. Inference of EHD film thickness is made from the percentage of film measurements which are compared with X-ray data. A reasonable correlation between the two types of data is presented, thereby, paving the way toward the use of the more universally applicable percentage of film measurements for the determination of EHD conditions in real bearing systems.
This paper discusses conditions and results of several tests of a DC sputtered MoS2 dry lubricant film. The test components were miniature precision ball bearings and rings and blocks; the surrounding atmospheres were laboratory air, pure helium, vacuum to 10 to the -8th power torr, and a perfluoroalkylpolyether oil. The results showed that the lubricant would perform satisfactorily under lightly loaded (450 gm) ball bearings in vacuum and would not perform well under a 66-kg load in air, a 132-kg load in helium, or a 330-kg load under oil. These tests and others show that the sputtered MoS2 film has some desirable features for space applications as well as some definite limitations.
Proposed magnetic-lubricant ball-bearing assembly has permanently-magnetized bearing retainer fabricated of porous material. Pores of retainer are filled with ferrolubricant. Surface tension causes retainer to deliver sufficient lubricant to nonmagnetic ball bearings.
Procedures outlined by the authors in an earlier publication (1976) on theoretical formulation for isothermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication of point contacts are used to assess the influence of the ellipticity parameter and the dimensionless speed, load, and material parameters on minimum film thickness. Conditions equivalent to using solid materials of bronze, steel, and silicon nitride, and lubricants of paraffinic and naphthenic mineral oils are considered in obtaining the exponent on the dimensionless material parameter. Thirty-four different cases are used to generate the fully flooded film thickness formula. A fully flooded condition is said to exist when the inlet distance of the conjunction ceases to influence in any significant way the minimum film thickness. Contour plots are also shown that indicate in detail the pressure spike and two side lobes in which the minimum film thickness occurs.
On-orbit commandable lubrication of ball bearings accomplished by direct oil application to the moving ball surfaces was studied. Test results for the lubricant applicator portion of the system are presented in conjunction with a design approach for the reservoir and metering components.
Fatigue tests were conducted on groups of 65 millimeter-bore ball bearings under four levels of filtration with and without a contaminated MIL-L-23699 lubricant. The baseline series used noncontaminated oil with 49 micron absolute filtration. In the remaining tests contaminants of the composition found in aircraft engine filters were injected into the filter's supply line at a constant rate of 125 milligrams per bearing-hour. The test filters had absolute particle removal ratings of 3, 30, 49, and 105 microns (0.45, 10, 30, and 70 microns nominal), respectively. Bearings were tested at 15,000 rpm under 4580 newtons radial load. Bearing life and running tract condition generally improved with finer filtration. The 3 and 30 micron filter bearings in a contaminated lubricant had statistically equivalent lives, approaching those from the baseline tests. The experimental lives of 49 micron bearings were approximately half the baseline bearing's lives. Bearings tested with the 105 micron filter experienced wear failures. The degree of surface distress, weight loss, and probable failure mode were found to be dependent on filtration level, with finer filtration being clearly beneficial.
Lubricant starvation effects on minimum film thickness for low-elastic modulus materials are studied by moving the inlet boundary closer to the contact center. Contour plots of the pressure and film thickness in and around the contact were obtained for fully flooded and starved lubrication conditions. These contour plots show that the inlet pressure contours become less circular and that the film thickness decreases substantially as the severity of starvation increases.
The use of Krytox, a fluorinated oil, as a tape surface lubricant was studied for a wideband video tape recorder. In spite of the 5 to 1 head wear reduction credited to the surface lubricant, the resultant head life fell short of the 1500 hour goal.
The sound velocity of four lubricants has been measured as a function of temperature and pressure using Brillouin scattering. A change in slope of the velocity as a function of temperature or pressure allowed the determination of the glass transition temperature and pressure. The glass transition data were used to construct a phase diagram for each lubricant. The data indicate that the glass transition temperature increased with pressure at a rate which ranged from 120 to 200 C/GPa. The maximum pressure attained was 0.69 GPa and the temperature range was from 25 to 100 C.
An optical microscope was used to study the lubrication and failure mechanisms of rubbed MoS2 films applied to three substrate surface finishes; polished, sanded, and sandblasted as a function of sliding distance. The lubrication mechanism was the plastic flow of thin films of MoS2 between flat plateaus on the rider and on the metallic substrate. If the substrate was rough, flat plateaus were created during run-in and the MoS2 flowed across them. Wear life was extended by increasing surface roughness since valleys in the roughened substrate served as reservoirs for MoS2 and as deposit sites for wear debris. In moist air the failure mechanism was the transformation of metallic colored MoS2 films to a black, powdery material that was found by X-ray diffraction to be alpha iron, MoO3, and possibly FeMoO3. In dry argon the failure mechanism was the gradual depletion of MoS2 from the contact region by transverse flow, and the wear debris on the track at failure was alpha iron, residual MoS2, and possibly FeS.
Boundary lubricating characteristics, thermal stability, and oxidation-corrosion stability were determined for a fluorinated polyether and a perfluoropolyether triazine. A ball-on-disk apparatus, a tensimeter, and oxidation-corrosion apparatus were used. Results were compared to data for a polyphenyl ether and a C-ether. The polyether and triazine yielded better boundary lubricating characteristics than either the polyphenyl ether or C-ether. The polyphenyl ether had the greatest thermal stability (443 C) while the other fluids had stabilities in the range 389 to 397 C. Oxidation-corrosion results indicated the following order of stabilities: perfluoropolyether trizine greater than polyphenyl ether greater than C-ether greater than fluorinated polyether.
The results of a feasibility study showed that on-orbit commandable lubrication of ball bearings can be accomplished by direct oil application to the moving ball surfaces. Test results for the lubricant applicator portion of the system are presented, in conjunction with a design approach for the reservoir and metering components.