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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 343 records · Page 19

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NASA NTRS1974

Small, high-speed bearing technology for cryogenic turbo-pumps

The design of 20-mm bore ball bearings is described for cryogenic turbo-machinery applications, operating up to speeds of 120,000 rpm. A special section is included on the design of hybrid bearings. Each hybrid bearing is composed of a ball bearing in series with a conventional pressurized fluid-film journal bearing. Full details are presented on the design of a test vehicle which possesses the capability of testing the above named bearings within the given speed range under externally applied radial and axial loads.

Winn, L. W.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Performance of 75-millimeter-bore bearings using electron-beam-welded hollow balls with a diameter ratio of 1.26

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.

Coe, H. H.↗

NASA NTRS1974

Analysis of an all-metallic resilient pad gas-lubricated thrust bearing

A new type of resilient pad gas thrust bearing that does not contain any elastomers in the bearing assembly is described and analyzed. The bearing consists of sector-shaped pads mounted asymmetrically on resilient foil beams. The effects of bearing design parameters on performance are shown. Performance of a resilient pad bearing is compared with that of a pivoted pad bearing.

Anderson, W. J.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Endurance and failure characteristics of main-shaft jet engine bearings at 3x10 to the 6th power DN

Groups of thirty 120-mm bore angular contact ball bearings were endurance tested at a speed of 12,000 and 25,000 rpm and a thrust load of 66 721 N. The bearings were manufactured from a single heat of VIM-VAR AISI M-50 steel. At 1.44X1 million and 3.0x1 million DN, 84 483 and 74 800 bearing test hours were accumulated, respectively. Test results were compared with similar bearings made from CVM AISI M-50 steel run under the same conditions. Bearing lives at speeds of 3x1 million DN with the VIM-VAR AISI M-50 steel were nearly equivalent to those obtained at lower speeds. A combined processing and material life factor of 44 was found for VIM-VAR AISI M-50 steel. Continuous running after a spall has occurred at 3.0x1 million DN can result in a destructive fracture of the bearing inner race.

Bamberger, E. N.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Performance of 75 millimeter-bore arched outer-race ball bearings

An investigation was performed to determine the operating characteristics of 75-mm bore, arched outer-race bearings, and to compare the data with those for a similar, but conventional, deep groove ball bearing. Further, results of an analytical study, made using a computer program developed previously, were compared with the experimental data. Bearings were tested up to 28,000 rpm shaft speed with a load of 2200 N (500 lb). The amount of arching was 0.13, 0.25, and 0.51 mm (.005, .010, and .020 in.). All bearings operated satisfactorily. The outer-race temperatures and the torques, however, were consistently higher for the arched bearings than for the conventional bearing.

Coe, H. H.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Dual-action gas thrust bearing for improving load capacity

The principle of utilizing hydrodynamic effects in diverging films to improve the load carrying capacity in gas thrust bearings is discussed. A new concept of a dual action bearing based on that principle is described and analyzed. The potential of the new bearing is demonstrated both analytically for an infinitely long slider and by numerical solution for a flat sector shaped thrust bearing. It is shown that the dual action bearing can extend substantially the range of load carrying capacity in gas lubricated thrust bearings and can improve their efficiency.

Etsion, I.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Performance of 75-millimeter bore arched outer-race ball bearings

An investigation was performed to determine the operating characteristics of 75-mm bore, arched outer-race bearings, and to compare the data with those for a similar, but conventional, deep groove ball bearing. Further, results of an analytical study, made using a computer program developed previously, were compared with the experimental data. Bearings were tested up to 28,000 rpm shaft speed with a load of 2,200 N (500 lb). The amount of arching was 0.13, 0.25, and 0.51 mm (0.005, 0.010, and 0.020 in). All bearings operated satisfactorily. The outer-race temperatures and the torques, however, were consistently higher for the arched bearings than for the conventional bearings

Coe, H. H.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Operating characteristics of a large-bore roller bearing to speeds of 3 times 10 to the 6th power DN

A 118-millimeter-bore roller bearing was studied parametrically at speeds from 10,000 to 25,500 rpm. The bearing had a round outer ring (not preloaded), and provisions were made for lubrication and cooling through the inner ring. In some tests the outer ring was also cooled. The bearing ran successfully at 300,00 DN with very small evidence of cage slip. Load, which was varied from 2200 to 8900 newtons (500 to 2000 lb), had no effect on bearing temperature or cage slip over the speed range tested. Bearing temperature varied inversely with cage slip for all test conditions. Cooling the outer ring decreased its temperature but increased the inner-ring temperature. Heat rejected to the lubricant (power loss within the bearing) increased with both shaft speed and total oil flow rate to the inner ring.

Schuller, F. T.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Limit cycles of a flexible shaft with hydrodynamic journal bearings in unstable regimes

A symmetric 3 mass rotor supported on hydrodynamic bearings is described. An approximate method of representing finite bearings is used to calculate bearing forces. As the method sums forces from a number of independent circular lobes lemon 3 and 4 lobe bearings are taken into account. The calculations are based on an axial groove bearing. Linear analysis precedes nonlinear simulation of some unstable conditions. The demonstration of small limit cycles suggests that necessarily flexible rotors e.g., helicopter tail rotors, may be practical without either tilt pad bearings or external dampers.

Brown, R. D.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Gas bearings

The present work deals with the fundamentals of gas lubrication theory, which forms the foundation of all analytical design tools for gas bearings. Most of the hard lessons learned in the past are outlined with reference to dry contact, debris ingestion, sliding speed, and chemical stability of lubricant. The mathematical theory of gas lubrication is described for scaling rules in thin-film viscous flow, momentum conservation, mass conservation, energy conservation, isothermal gas bearing theory, coupling effects, and global bearing characteristics. Particular attention is given to the governing differential equations for common bearing configurations. Also discussed are representative solutions of self-acting gas bearings, externally pressurized bearings, and time-dependent effects.

Pan, C. H. T.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Incipient failure detection (IFD) of SSME ball bearings

Because of the immense noise background during the operation of a large engine such as the SSME, the relatively low level unique ball bearing signatures were often buried by the overall machine signal. As a result, the most commonly used bearing failure detection technique, pattern recognition using power spectral density (PSD) constructed from the extracted bearing signals, is rendered useless. Data enhancement techniques were carried out by using a HP5451C Fourier Analyzer. The signal was preprocessed by a Digital Audio Crop. DAC-1024I noise cancelling filter in order to estimate the desired signal corrupted by the backgound noise. Reference levels of good bearings were established. Any deviation of bearing signals from these reference levels indicate the incipient bearing failures.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1982

High-speed motion picture camera experiments of cavitation in dynamically loaded journal bearings

A high-speed camera was used to investigate cavitation in dynamically loaded journal bearings. The length-diameter ratio of the bearing, the speeds of the shaft and bearing, the surface material of the shaft, and the static and dynamic eccentricity of the bearing were varied. The results reveal not only the appearance of gas cavitation, but also the development of previously unsuspected vapor cavitation. It was found that gas cavitation increases with time until, after many hundreds of pressure cycles, there is a constant amount of gas kept in the cavitation zone of the bearing. The gas can have pressures of many times the atmospheric pressure. Vapor cavitation bubbles, on the other hand, collapse at pressures lower than the atmospheric pressure and cannot be transported through a high-pressure zone, nor does the amount of vapor cavitation in a bearing increase with time. Analysis is given to support the experimental findings for both gas and vapor cavitation.

Jacobson, B. O.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Bearings: Technology and needs

A brief status report on bearing technology and present and near-term future problems that warrant research support is presented. For rolling element bearings a material with improved fracture toughness, life data in the low Lambda region, a comprehensive failure theory verified by life data and incorporated into dynamic analyses, and an improved corrosion resistant alloy are perceived as important needs. For hydrodynamic bearings better definition of cavitation boundaries and pressure distributions for squeeze film dampers, and geometry optimization for minimum power loss in turbulent film bearings are needed. For gas film bearings, foil bearing geometries that form more nearly optimum film shapes for maximum load capacity, and more effective surface protective coatings for high temperature operation are needed.

Anderson, W. J.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Magnetic bearing and motor

A magnetic bearing for passively suspending a rotatable element subjected to axial and radial thrust forces is disclosed. The magnetic bearing employs a taut wire stretched along the longitudinal axis of the bearing between opposed end pieces and an intermediate magnetic section. The intermediate section is segmented to provide oppositely directed magnetic flux paths between the end pieces and may include either an axially polarized magnets interposed between the segments. The end pieces, separated from the intermediate section by air gaps, control distribution of magnetic flux between the intermediate section segments. Coaxial alignment of the end pieces with the intermediate section minimizes magnetic reluctance in the flux paths endowing the bearing with self-centering characteristics when subjected to radial loads. In an alternative embodiment, pairs of oppositely wound armature coils are concentrically interposed between segments of the intermediate section in concentric arcs adjacent to radially polarized magnets to equip a magnetic bearing as a torsion drive motor. The magnetic suspension bearing disclosed provides long term reliability without maintenance with application to long term space missions such as the VISSR/VAS scanning mirror instrument in the GOES program.

Studer, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1983

High-speed motion picture camera experiments of cavitation in dynamically loaded journal bearings

Hamrock, B. J.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Magnetic Bearings for Inertial Energy Storage

The selection of a noncontacting bearing technique with no wear out phenomena and which is vacuum compatible which is the decisive factor in selecting magnetic bearings for kinetic energy storage was investigated. Unlimited cycle life without degradation is a primary goal. Storage efficiency is a key parameter which is defined as the ratio of the energy remaining to energy stored after a fixed time interval at no load conditions. Magnetic bearings, although noncontacting, are not perfectly frictionless in that magnetic losses due to eddy currents and hysteresis can occur. Practical magnetic bearings, however, deviate from perfect symmetry and have discontinuities and asymmetric flux paths either by design or when controlled in the presence of disturbances, which cause losses. These losses can be kept smaller in the bearings than in a high power motor/generator, however, are a significant factor in selecting the magnetic bearing type.

Studer, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Assessment of the operating characteristics of the SSME LOX turbopump pump-end bearing

A bearing/shaft model of the SSME LOX turbopump was developed using the SHABERTH bearing/shaft math modeling computer code. A previously developed bearing/shaft thermal model of the SSME LOX turbopump turbine and bearing was used in conjunction with SHABERTH to evaluate the thermomechanical operating characteristics of the LOX turbopump end bearings. Results show that for the two unmounted diametrical clearances evaluated (4.0 mils and 6.3 mils), the inboard pump end bearing supports about 81% of the isolator load for the small clearance and 77% of the isolator load for the larger clearance. Bearing clearance changes due to thermal effects were 40% for the 4.0 mil diametrical clearance case and 19% for the 6.3 mil clearance case evaluated. The thermal analysis included evaluation of bearing temperatures for a subcooled case and a saturated case. Results indicate that no drastic temperature change occurred between the two cases. Since the rolling element and race surfaces of the subcooled case were at temperatures sufficiently high enough to be vapor blanketed, exceeding saturation temperature at the bearing inlet did not increase surface temperatures greatly.

New, L. S.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Lubrication and performance of high-speed rolling-element bearings

Trends in aircraft engine operating speeds have dictated the need for rolling-element bearings capable of speeds to 3 million DN. A review of high-speed rolling-element bearing state-of-the-art performance and lubrication is presented. Through the use of under-race lubrication and bearing thermal management bearing operation can be obtained to speeds of 3 million DN. Jet lubricated ball bearings are limited to 2.5 million DN for large bore sizes and to 3 million DN for small bore sizes. Current computer programs are able to predict bearing thermal performance.

Zaretsky, E. V.↗