Effect of the space environment on lubricants and rolling element bearings.
Space environmental effect on lubricants and rolling element bearings, comparing evaporative losses of solid and liquid lubricants
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Space environmental effect on lubricants and rolling element bearings, comparing evaporative losses of solid and liquid lubricants
The metallurgical results produced on balls tested in the rolling-contact fatigue spin rig were studied by metallographic examination. Origin and progression of fatigue failures were observed. These evaluations were made on SAE 52100 and AISI M-1 balls fatigue tested at room temperature (80 F) and 200 to 250 F. Most failures originated subsurface in shear; inclusions, structure changes, and directionalism adversely affected ball fatigue life. Structures in the maximum-shear-stress region of the balls of both materials were stable at room temperature and unstable at 200 to 250 F. Failures were of the same type as those found in full-scale bearings.
The rolling-contact fatigue spin rig was used to test groups of SAE 52100 9.16-inch-diameter balls lubricated with a mineral oil at 600,000-, 675,000-, and 750,000-psi maximum Hertz stress. Cylinders of AISI M-1 vacuum and commercial melts and MV-1 (AISI M-50) were used as race specimens. Stress-life exponents produced agree closely with values accepted in industry. The type of failure obtained in the spin rig was similar to the subsurface fatigue spells found in bearings.
The rolling-contact fatigue spin rig was used to test bails of a bearing steel at maximum Hertz stresses of 600,000 to 750,000 psi. The effect of fiber orientation was observed with the ball track restricted to passing directly over the poles, coincident with the equator, or randomly around the ball. The polar areas were found to be weaker in fatigue than the nonpolar areas. This resulted in a much greater portion of the failures occurring in the polar areas than would be expected from a homogeneous material. The early failures are discussed.
The Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) is an innovative, lightweight solar array with a flexible substrate that makes use of the stored strain energy in its composite structural members to provide deployment without the use of motors while still packaging efficiently. The ROSA flight experiment was launched to the International Space Station (ISS)on June 3rd, 2017 as a part of the eleventh SpaceX commercial resupply mission. After two weeks of storage, ROSA was extracted from the Dragon spacecraft, deployed, and put through a week of tests to verify its structural characteristics as well as the performance of photovoltaics. The structural dynamics experiments included active excitation of out-of-plane bending modes, and a study of the thermal-structural interaction of the structure during day-night transitions. Data was gathered from a small number of accelerometers located at key points on the solar array and from cameras observing numerous photogrammetry targets spread out over the structure and the photovoltaic blanket. The goal in this effort was to better understand the performance of ROSA and to improve modeling efforts for future designs of similar solar arrays. Of particular interest are the first few system modes and mode shapes of the array, the amount of structural damping present, and degree of structural-thermal interaction seen during eclipse exit.
We investigated the magnetic and thermodynamic properties of rolled tantalum in superconducting state. The magnetization shows a crossover from type I to type II superconductivity as the magnetic field increases beyond the thermodynamic critical field. In both regimes, the sample shows a substantial irreversibility of the magnetization which we attribute to the pinning of the entities that characterize the intermediate and mixed states. Magnetic relaxation data taken in the intermediate state shows an important contribution of the quantum tunnelling below 3.7 K.
In this work, we utilized the jelly-roll method to make a single-filament Nb{sub 3}Al precursor long wire, combining with a homemade reel-to-reel rapid heating and quenching (RHQ) equipment, and consequently the high-performance Nb{sub 3}Al superconducting wires had been prepared. By investigating the heating current and wire moving speed, the optimized RHQ heat treatment conditions of this Nb{sub 3}Al wire were obtained. The results suggest that the T{sub c} for the Nb{sub 3}Al superconducting wire is up to 17.4 K and the non-Cu critical current density (non-Cu J{sub c}) reaches 1238 A/mm{sup 2} at 4.2 K and 12 T, which indicates the bcc-phase Nb–Al supersaturated solid solution has already been generated. Considering the Nb{sub 3}Al precursor wire with a large thickness of Al layer, about 690 nm, such high J{sub c} is quite unexpected. The SEM analysis presents that there is still some unreacted Nb and Nb{sub 2}Al phase in the superconducting wire, which may result from the inhomogeneity of Nb and Al foils. This work implies the Nb{sub 3}Al superconducting wire is promising to the application of high-field superconducting magnets.
The evolution of texture, grain size, grain shape, dislocation and twin density has been determined by synchrotron X-ray diffraction and line profile analysis in a nanocrystalline Ni- Fe alloy after cold rolling along different directions related to the initial fiber and the long axis of grains. The texture evolution has been simulated by the Taylor-type relaxed constraints viscoplastic polycrystal model. The simulations were based on the activity of partial dislocations in correlation with the experimental results of dislocation density determination. The concept of stress-induced shear-coupling is supported and strengthened by both the texture simulations and the experimentally determined evolution of the microstructure parameters. Grain-growth and texture evolution are shown to proceed by the shear-coupling mechanism supported by dislocation activity as long as the grain size is not smaller than about 20 nm.
High strength/high conductivity Cu–XNb nanolamellar bimetallic composites (where X < 50 pct) were successfully processed via accumulative roll bonding. No intermittent heat treatments were used which increases industrial applicability. Estimates of conductivity from published models were validated at length scales of ~ 150 nm but were shown to be four times too low for composites with layer thicknesses < 40 nm. Nanoscale composites with conductivity of ~ 47 pct IACS and 99 Rockwell B hardness were fabricated.
We use micro-computed tomography (µ-CT) to characterize the sizes, shapes, and locations of layer perforation (LP) defects in laminates of copper (Cu) and tantalum (Ta) processed by accumulative roll bonding (ARB). One—termed Cu/Ta—was processed from an initial stacking of seven alternating Cu and Ta sheets, with the exterior sheets being Cu. In the other—termed Ta/Cu—the exterior sheets are Ta. Cu/Ta remained intact during processing and exhibits an approximately uniform spatial distribution of LPs. By contrast, Ta/Cu fractured by longitudinal splitting. LPs in this latter sample are concentrated near the sample surfaces. Moreover, their density increases with decreasing distance to the fracture surface. Furthermore, these findings show that materials undergoing ARB may remain intact, despite profuse formation of LPs, provided that the LPs are uniformly distributed. However, a non-uniform distribution of LPs is correlated with longitudinal splitting.
In this investigation, friction stir welding (FSW) of Al-B{sub 4}C composite fabricated by 10 cycles accumulative roll bonding was conducted. In order to investigate the influences of pin geometry on microstructure and mechanical properties, four different pin geometries (cylindrical, square, triangular and hexagonal) were selected. It was found that FSW parameters had a major effect on the fragmentation and distribution of reinforcement particles in stir zone. When the tool travel speed was increased, the distribution of B{sub 4}C particles was become gradually uniform in the aluminum matrix. The effect of tool rotational speed on the peak temperature was determined to be greater than the tool travel speed. The attained data of tensile properties and microhardness tests showed that the tool travel speed had bilateral effect on the tensile strength. The maximum tensile joint efficiency was obtained as 238% for FSWed of Al-2%B{sub 4}C composite to annealed base Al sheet.
In this study, AISI 321 austenitic stainless steel (ASS) was cryo-rolled and subsequently annealed at 650 and 800 °C to reverse BCC α′-martensite to FCC γ-austenite. The texture evolution associated with the reversion at the selected temperatures was investigated using high-resolution EBSD. After the reversion, TiC precipitates were observed to be more stable in 650 °C-annealed specimens than those reversed at 800 °C. {110} texture was mainly developed in specimens subjected to both annealing temperatures. However, specimens reversed at 650 °C have stronger texture than those annealed at 800 °C, even at the higher annealing time. The strong intensity of {110} texture component is attributed to the ability of AISI 321 ASS to memorize the crystallographic orientation of the deformed austenite, a phenomenon termed texture memory. The development of weaker texture in 800 °C-annealed specimens is attributed to the residual strain relief in grains, dissolution of grain boundary precipitates, and an increase in atomic migration along the grain boundaries. Based on the observed features of the reversed austenite grains and estimation from an existing model, it is suspected that the austenite reversion at 650 and 800 °C undergone diffusional and martensitic shear reversion, respectively.
The corrosion behavior of the Al-0.2 wt.% Sc alloy fabricated by the accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution was studied using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization techniques. The effect of the microstructural parameters, such as dislocation density, texture, grain boundary, and lattice strain, on the corrosion behavior was also investigated in this study. The results demonstrated that the ARB process can significantly improve the corrosion resistance and modify the corrosion potential to attain higher positive potentials. In addition, the pitting corrosion changed into the lateral spreading of the pits at the seventh and tenth cycles of the ARB process with average grain size of 410 and 370 nm, respectively. The change in the fraction of the high-angle grain boundary during the ARB process is the most important parameter regarding the variation in corrosion type. The average grain size of 410 nm in seventh cycle, as the optimum average grain size, demonstrated the highest corrosion resistance.
The microstructure and mechanical properties of TB8 cold-rolled plate with a thickness reduction of 50% during annealing at different temperatures are investigated. The results show that annealing for 1 h below 750 °C does not induce the recrystallization transition, remaining the main texture components of {001} <110>, {113} <110> and {112} <110>. The ellipsoidal ω phase is formed when the alloy is annealed at 400 °C. α phase is formed when the alloy is annealed from 450 to 750 °C. The size and volume fraction of α phase increases first and then declines in control of driving force of phase transformation and diffusion. The synergistic effect of the precipitation of ω phase and α phase and the disappearance of dislocation makes the tensile strength of the plate decrease first, then increase, and finally decrease with the increase in annealing temperature. The change in plasticity is opposite to that of strength.
Nd-Fe-B based magnets have the highest energy product among all permanent magnets, which is required for numerous clean energy technologies. For higher temperature applications (T > 150°C), additions of heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) such as Dy are required to maintain sufficient coercivity during operation. Additions of Dy are expensive. Thus, it is desirable to reduce the need for HREEs by reducing the grain size to the nanoscale, which increases the coercivity and decreases its temperature dependence. Here, we report a novel nanograin Nd-Fe-B magnet fabrication method that is continuous and inexpensive. The process uses mechanically milled Nd-Fe-B melt-spun flakes as feedstock powder that is packed into a metal vessel and then hot rolled to form a fully dense and highly textured strip magnet with tailored thicknesses, down to 800 µm. Finally, using this process, fully dense nanograin bulk magnets can be synthesized in minutes compared to the traditional multi-step processes that are typically low throughput.
In the current study, the deformation mechanisms of a rolled magnesium alloy were investigated under cyclic loading using real-time in situ neutron diffraction under a continuous-loading condition. The relationship between the macroscopic cyclic deformation behavior and the microscopic response at the grain level was established. The neutron diffraction results indicate that more and more grains are involved in the twinning and detwinning deformation process with the increase of fatigue cycles. The residual twins appear in the early fatigue life, which is responsible for the cyclic hardening behavior. The asymmetric shape of the hysteresis loop is attributed to the early exhaustion of the detwinning process during compression, which leads to the activation of dislocation slips and rapid strain-hardening. The critical resolved shear stress for the activation of tensile twinning closely depends on the residual strain developed during cyclic loading. In the cycle before the sample fractured, the dislocation slips became active in tension, although the sample was not fully twinned. The increased dislocation density leads to the rise of the stress concentration at weak spots, which is believed to be the main reason for the fatigue failure. Furthermore, the deformation history greatly influences the deformation mechanisms of hexagonal-close-packed-structured magnesium alloy during cyclic loading.
A combined experimental and simulation study of intragranular misorientation and texture development in ferritic stainless steels is presented herein. Cold rolling was performed on materials having different grain shapes to reveal variations of misorientations and texture with variations in microstructure. The experimental results were compared with predictions of the Visco-Plastic Self-Consistent (VPSC) model and the recently developed Grain-Fragmentation Visco-Plastic Self-Consistent (GF-VPSC) model. It is shown that the GF-VPSC model, incorporating the development of intragranular misorientations, provides a much better prediction of the texture strength compared to the standard VPSC model. The predictions of intragranular misorientation are also in good agreement with experimental measurements. Both experiments and simulations point to the importance of anisotropy of intragranular misorientation distributions in determining texture development and, importantly, texture strength.
A window-based steady-state detection algorithm has been developed for application to kinetic Monte Carlo simulation data. The algorithm, termed F-t-Pj-RG sequentially applies an F-test, a t-test, and a projection test on adjacent windows of the data while rolling (or shifting) and growing the windows when any of the tests fail. In aggregate, the algorithm is able to (a) automatically reject the warm-up period as not being at steady-state, as well as (b) determine an appropriate window size for converged statistics when sampling the data, which is necessary for detection of steady-state, and (c) detect steady-state within a particular tolerance. The last step, the projection test, is actually an oscillating-slope projection test, and is performed on j sequential data windows (i.e., more than two adjacent windows). It requires more than simply being within the user defined tolerance: the oscillating-slope projection test includes a condition that the slope must oscillate around zero when 2, which is an additional indication of steady-state. When all three tests are passed, the F-t-Pj test is passed, indicating that the prerequisites of steady-state detection have been met and also that conditions consistent with the definition of steady-state have been realized. This algorithm is applied to a variety of data sets that correspond to the diverse type of data trends that can be produced by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The algorithm is shown to be robust in its ability to handle differing functional forms, and is able to detect steady-state with low computational cost. Finally, the low computational cost of this method and its robustness towards varied data trends make it suitable for on-the-fly use in kinetic Monte Carlo simulations.