Advanced Bearing Technology
Fundamentals of friction and wear on fluid film and rolling-element bearings
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Fundamentals of friction and wear on fluid film and rolling-element bearings
Capacitance force transducer for measuring torque of rolling-element bearing in vacuum environment
Component hardness differences of SAE 52100 steel effect on bearing fatigue, using five-ball fatigue tester and rolling element bearings
Fluorinated polyethers are suitable lubricants for rolling-element bearings in cryogenic systems. Lubrication effectiveness is comparable to that of super-refined mineral oil lubricants operating at room temperature.
Reducing the mass of the rolling elements in ball bearings causes a reduction of centrifugal forces and thereby extends bearing fatigue life. Ball mass is reduced by drilling a concentric hole through each ball. Concentricity and finish of the drilled hole can be closely controlled and the balls accurately balanced.
Rolling element fatigue tests of hollow and solid electron beam welded ball bearings
Hollow balls for high speed bearings by electron beam welding, describing full scale and rolling element fatigue tests
Practical problems applicable to the selection, design, and lubrication of rolling-element bearings are presented and discussed. Design and selection criteria are based upon materials and processing factors such as melting practice, metalworking, and heat treatment. Environmental factors are considered such as bearing misalignment and speed. Selection of a lubricant is based upon elastohydrodynamic lubrication principles in addition to lubricant type and chemistry.
A simplified design analysis was conducted on a nutating plate type drive system for a 2500 horsepower helicopter main rotor gear box. A drive system that split the output torque evenly between two nutating plates for the purpose of reducing the load on each nutating plate was analyzed. Needle bearings were used on the nutating plate pins. The results of the analysis indicate that the required load capacity of the pin bearings and the speed of the nutating plate bearings were beyond the state-of-the-art capacity of rolling-element bearings. The analysis further indicates that the nutating plate drive is less efficient, and results in a higher weight per horsepower than a conventional planetary helicopter transmission with similar design specifications.
Practical problems applicable to the selection, design, and lubrication of rolling-element bearings are presented and discussed. The solutions to these problems are based upon the new ASME Engineering Design Guide - Life Adjustment Factors for Ball and Roller Bearings. Design and selection criteria are based upon materials and processing factors such as melting practice, metalworking, and heat treatment. Environmental factors considered include bearing misalignment and speed. Selection of a lubricant is based upon elastohydrodynamic lubrication principles in addition to lubricant type and chemistry.
Two groups of 3.50-in. pitch-diameter spur gears, without tip relief, made from consumable-electrode vacuum-melted (CVM) AISI M-50 steel and CVM super nitralloy (5Ni-2A1) were tested under conditions which produced fatigue pitting. The M-50 gears had fatigue lives approximately 50 percent longer than the super nitralloy gears. Both groups of gears failed by classical rolling-element fatigue at the pitch circle. When the gears were overrun past initial spall formation, the spalled M-50 gear teeth failed by fatigue fracture. The M-50 material had higher wear than the super nitralloy material. Differences in fatigue life and wear were not considered statistically significant.
A description is given of an antifriction bearing and a process by which its fatigue life may be extended. The method involves a rotating shaft supported by a fluid bearing and a rolling element bearing coupled in series. Each bearing turns at a fraction of the rotational speed of the shaft. The fluid bearing is preferably conical, thereby providing thrust and radial load support in a single bearing structure.
Experimental vibration studies performed on a number of flight control moment gyros and bearing life test fixtures are summarized. Tests were performed at MSFC, at Wyle Laboratories, Huntsville, Alabama, and at the Bendix Corporation facilities in Teterboro, New Jersey. A description of test and analysis equipment is included as well as test procedures and overall performance rankings. Advanced ultrasonic rolling element bearing fault detection techniques were applied for bearing analysis along with conventional vibration and sound analysis procedures.
A photographic method was employed to record the kinematic performance of rolling elements in turbo machinery ball bearings. The 110 mm split inner ring test bearings had nominal contact angles of 26 deg and 34 deg. High speed films were taken at inner ring speeds of 4,000, 8,000 and 12,000 rpm and at thrust loads of 4,448 N and 22,240 N (1,000 and 5,000 lbs). The films were measured and this data reduced to obtain separator speed, ball speed and ball spin axis orientation.
Hot-pressed silicon nitride was evaluated as a rolling-element bearing material. The five-ball fatigue tester was used to test 12.7-mm- diameter silicon nitride balls at maximum Hertz stresses ranging from 4.27 x 10 to the 9th power n/sq m to 6.21 x 10 to the 9th power n/sq m at a race temperature of 328K. The fatigue life of NC-132 hot-pressed silicon nitride was found to be equal to typical bearing steels and much greater than other ceramic or cermet materials at the same stress levels. A digital computer program was used to predict the fatigue life of 120-mm- bore angular-contact ball bearings containing either steel or silicon nitride balls. The analysis indicates that there is no improvement in the lives of bearings of the same geometry operating at DN values from 2 to 4 million where silicon nitride balls are used in place of steel balls.
The problem of fretting in aircraft turbine engines is discussed. Critical fretting can occur on fan, compressor, and turbine blade mountings, as well as on splines, rolling element bearing races, and secondary sealing elements of face type seals. Structural fatigue failures have been shown to occur at fretted areas on component parts. Methods used by designers to reduce the effects of fretting are given.
An experimental investigation was performed to determine the rolling element fatigue life of electron beam-welded hollow balls with a diameter ratio (o.d./i.d.) of 1.26 and to determine the operating characteristics of bearings using these hollow balls. Similar bearings with solid balls were also tested and the data compared. The bearings were operated at shaft speeds up to 28,000 rpm with a thrust load of 2200 N (500 lb). Ball failures during the bearing tests were due to flexure fatigue. The solid and hollow ball bearings tested showed little difference in outer race temperatures and indicated the same bearing torque. The 17.5-mm (0.6875-in.) diameter balls were also tested in the five-ball fatigue tester and showed no significant difference in life when compared with the life of a solid ball.
A joint program was undertaken by the NASA Lewis Research Center and the Army Aviation Systems Command to restore by grinding those rolling-element bearings which are currently being discarded at aircraft engine and transmission overhaul. Three bearing types were selected from the UH-1 helicopter engine (T-53) and transmission for the pilot program. No bearing failures occurred related to the restoration by grinding process. The risk and cost of a bearing restoration by grinding programs was analyzed. A microeconomic impact analysis was performed.