Liquid-metal lubricated bearing instrumentation
Miniaturized lubricant film thickness and pressure transducers for liquid metal lubricated journal bearings in high speed turbines
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Miniaturized lubricant film thickness and pressure transducers for liquid metal lubricated journal bearings in high speed turbines
Self-lubricating composites of porous nickel and nickel-chromium alloy impregnated with a barium fluoride-calcium fluoride eutectic, and a thin film of solid lubricant increase wear life of load bearing surfaces.
Synthetic paraffinic oil lubricates ball bearings at temperatures in the 600 degrees F range. The lubricant contains antiwear and antifoam additives, is thermally stable in the high temperature range, but requires protection from oxygen.
Summary information on lubricants and lubrication for use in aerospace environments, and simulation of space environments in vacuum chamber
Worm gear lubrication with bonded solid film lubricants, discussing efficiency and wear life test apparatus
Physical sputtering deposition of molybdenum disulfide films as solid lubricant on rotating and sliding components, discussing lubrication properties in vacuum
Self-lubricating gear, designed for long term operation in a vacuum at high, low, and ambient temperatures, is constructed of alternating layers of metal and a dry lubricant material, such as polytetrafluoroethylene, with a suitable reinforcing material bonded into a laminated composite unit, which is machined to form a standard gear.
Ball bearings lubrication and wear in cryogenic hydrogen turbopumps by transfer films provided from self lubricating cage
Physical sputtering deposition of molybdenum disulfide films as solid lubricant on rotating and sliding components, discussing lubrication properties in vacuum
Development of hybrid bearing lubrication system with combination of standard type lubrication and magnetic flux field for earth atmosphere and space environment operation
The history of this relatively new topic in tribology is presented, and attention is drawn to the significant theoretical and experimental developments. The position of elastohydrodynamics in the spectrum of lubrication regimes is discussed, and the essential features of elastohydrodynamic contacts are described. Attention is focused upon film thickness calculations and measurements since this represents one of the most important and best charted fields within the subject, but friction and the distribution of pressure are also considered. Transition from hydrodynamic to elastohydrodynamic and boundary lubrication conditions is considered, and attention is drawn to the importance of the ratio of film thickness/surface roughness. A number of successful engineering applications of elastohydrodynamics are noted, and the present trends in research are outlined.
Lubricant, thrust bearing, and ring seal tests for supersonic turbine engine mainshaft lubrication system
Bearings, lubricants, and seals for lubricated and hydraulic components for space shuttle with high temperature and vacuum operating capabilities
High speed low power loss spiral groove bearings self sealing grease lubricants with high shear stability and good boundary lubrication
A sixteen-inch rotor, weighing approximately twenty-one pounds, was supported by air-lubricated foil bearings. In physical size and in mass distribution, the rotor closely matched that of an experimental Brayton cycle turboalternator unit. The rotor was stable in both vertical horizontal attitudes at speeds up to 50,000 rpm. A detailed description of the experimental apparatus and of the foil bearing design are given. The paper contains data on response of the rotor to rotating imbalance, symmetric and asymmetric, and to excitation by means of a vibrator (shake table). It is concluded that the gas-lubricated foil bearing suspension is free from fractional frequency whirl and suffers no loss of load capacity when excited at frequency equal to half the rotational speed. In contrast to rigid gas bearings, the foil bearing imposes no stringent requirements with respect to dimensional tolerances, cleanliness, or limitations of journal motion within the narrow confines of bearing clearance.
Elastohydrodynamic (EHD) film thicknesses have been measured, by means of an X-ray technique, under conditions that closely simulate the ball-race contact in advanced turbine engine thrust bearings. The experiments were conducted with a rolling-disk machine using disks which yield a contact zone similar to that in the actual bearing. Both the rolling and spinning motions of the ball relative to the race were simulated by the apparatus. Four lubricants were evaluated at temperatures to 600 F and maximum Hertz stresses to 350,000 psi. The X-ray film thickness data correlated well with observations of surface distress (or lack thereof) in full-scale bearing tests with the same lubricants under similar conditions of temperature and load. The predicted variation of film thickness with speed and viscosity as verified, although the magnitude of measured film thickness was generally one-half to one-third of predicted values. An effect of stress greater than predicted was consistently observed in the higher stress range.
The effect of nuclear reactor radiation on the performance of a solid film lubricant was studied. The film consisted of molybdenum disulfide and graphite in a sodium silicate binder. Radiation levels of fast neutrons (E or = 1 MeV) were fluxed up to 3.5 times 10 to the 12th power n/sq cm-sec (intensity) and fluences up to 2 times 10 to the 18th power n/sq cm (total exposure). Coating wear lives were much shorter and friction coefficients higher in a high flux region of the reactor than in a low flux region. The amount of total exposure did not affect lubrication behavior as severely as the radiation intensity during sliding.
The field of surface science has undergone intense revitalization with the introduction of low-energy electron diffraction, Auger electron spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and other surface analytical techniques which have been sophisticated within the last decade. These developments have permitted submono- and monolayer structure analysis as well as chemical identification and quantitative analysis. The application of a number of these techniques to the solution of problems in the fields of friction, lubrication, and wear are examined in detail for the particular case of iron; and in general to illustrate how the accumulation of pure data will contribute toward the establishment of physiochemical concepts which are required to understand the mechanisms that are operational in friction systems. In the case of iron, LEED, Auger and microcontact studies have established that hydrogen and light-saturated organic vapors do not establish interfaces which prevent iron from welding, whereas oxygen and some oxygen and sulfur compounds do reduce welding as well as the coefficient of friction. Interpretation of these data suggests a mechanism of sulfur interaction in lubricating systems.