Oil film thickness measurement by means of an optic lever technique

Oil film thickness in hydrodynamic bearings is a fundamental parameter influencing overall hydrodynamic bearing performance. Knowledge of this thickness allows bearing performance to be optimised. For the small hydrodynamic bearings that are usually used in laboratory test facilities, a very small sensor (e.g.,<2 mm) is required because of space limitations. Commercially available eddy‐current and capacitance sensors are too large to be mounted in the pad of such a bearing. An alternative approach is to use sensors based on optical methods, such as the optic lever technique. The main idea in this technique is to detect the intensity of a light beam reflected from a target surface. This intensity is a function of the distance between the sensor and the target. This paper reports the specific features of the optic lever technique as used for measurements of oil film thickness. The design, calibration procedure, and main characteristics of an optical sensor are discussed. A test rig for the calibration of oil film thickness sensors is also presented. The sensor response curve has two parts, linear and non‐linear; using the linear part results in high sensitivity in the micrometre range. The influence of different types of oil on the output signal of the sensor has also been investigated. Experiments with different target velocities have shown that this sensor can be used for accurate and reliable measurement of oil film thickness in hydrodynamic bearings.     

Maximum oil film pressure and temperature of two‐iobe journal bearings with different bush profiles

This paper presents data on the maximum oil film pressure and temperature of two‐lobe journal bearings with different bore profiles. A bearing with a cylindrical non‐continuous bore profile, and another with a pericycloid continuous profile have been evaluated. For an assumed relative length of the bearings, and parallel orientation of the journal and bearing axes, the minimum values of oil film thickness, maximum pressure values, and temperatures of the oil film have been determined. The calculations were carried out on the assumption of an adiabatic oil film and a static equilibrium position of the journal.     

Performance of synthetic oils in the hydrodynamic regime — 1. experimental

An investigation of the performance of environmentally adapted synthetic oils in the hydrodynamic lubrication regime has been carried out. Four oils have been tested: polyalphaolefin and ester based ISO VG46 oils as well as mineral ISO VG68 and VG46 oils. Tests were conducted in a facility containing two identical tilting‐pad thrust bearings typical of the design in general use. The differences between the mineral and synthetic oils in terms of maximum operating temperature, minimum oil film thickness, and bearing power loss have been examined. Substitution of the mineral ISO VG68 oil with an ISO VG46 oil slightly reduces the bearing operating temperature. This is due to a decrease in the basic viscosity. It is concluded that the ester base ISO VG46 oil can be used as an environmentally adapted replacement for the mineral ISO VG68 oil without sacrificing bearing safety. Such a change also offers noticeable energy savings. If the ester based oil is used instead of a mineral oil of the same viscosity grade, bearing reliability is improved by the increased oil film thickness.     

Measurement of fluid film thickness on the valve plate in oil hydraulic axial piston pumps (I)-bearing pad effects-

The tribological mechanism between the valve plate and the cylinder block in oil hydraulic axial piston pumps plays an important role on high power density. In this study, the fluid film thickness between the valve plate and the cylinder block was measured with discharge pressure and rotational speed by use of a gap sensor, and a slip ring system in the operating period. To investigate the effect of the valve plate shapes, we designed two valve plates with different shapes : the first valve plate was without a bearing pad, while the second valve plate had a bearing pad. It was found that both valve plates behaved differently with respect to the fluid film thickness characteristics. The leakage flow rates and the shaft torque were also experimented in order to clarify the performance difference between the valve plate without a bearing pad and the valve plate with a bearing pad. From the results of this study, we found out that in the oil hydraulic axial piston pumps, the valve plate with a bearing pad showed better film thickness contours than the valve plate without a bearing pad.     

工况对盾构机主驱动轴承润滑特性的影响

以某隧道工程实际工况条件为例,建立盾构机主驱动轴承载荷分布计算模型和等温线接触弹流润滑模型,通过数值分析得到极限工况和占比99.9%的工况条件下盾构机主驱动轴承的油膜厚度及油膜压力分布;依据实际工况条件分析不同工况对轴承油膜厚度、油膜压力的影响规律,以及滚子所处位置不同时滚子负载与油膜压力和膜厚之间的变化关系。结果表明：不同工况下主轴承油膜厚度、油膜压力分布规律相似,均出现二次峰值;同一工况下,随着滚子于主轴承所处位置不同,油膜压力及膜厚最值随滚子负载的增大而减小;同一位置处二者最值随主轴承受力的增大而减小。     

运行过程中转速变化时可倾瓦推力轴承油膜温度瞬态变化规律的实验研究

本文实验研究了可倾瓦推力轴承在运行过程中的不同载荷下、不同升速时间下从起始转速８００ｒ／ｍｉｎ升到截止转速５０００ｒ／ｍｉｎ时油腊温度和油膜厚度变化值的瞬态变化规律。实验时,在瓦块进油、出油边及油腊与瓦块接触面上布置了若干根铜－康铜热电偶和电涡流传感器。实验表明大运行过程中。转速升高时,不同的升速时间对油膜温度、进油边温度、出油边温度以及油腊厚度变化的影响基本相同;不同载荷对油膜温度、进油边温度以     

Simulating angular ball bearing lubricated elliptical contacts Film thickness and traction measurements

A high performance barrel and plate apparatus was built to study film formation and traction by simulating the real situation of a lubricated elliptical contact in an angular ball bearing under general kinematic conditions. Simultaneous measurements of load, speed of each surface, traction, and film thickness by optical interferometry can be performed. The sapphire disc plate and the steel barrel are driven independently at constant controlled speeds. Small relative sliding, lateral sliding and spinning near pure rolling conditions can be imposed by controlling barrel shaft angle contact location. Tests were performed at ambient temperature for a small barrel whose principal radii are 1.34 mm and 9.7 mm, for applied loads which generate Hertzian pressures up to 2 × 10⁹ N/m², and for a low viscosity mineral oil. Typical experimental results show that under elasto-hydrodynamic conditions, the centre film thickness is slightly below the values calculated from classical elastohydrodynamic theories and that oil starvation occurs at high speeds. Traction curves versus slide/roll ratio are presented for different loads and under spinning and lateral sliding conditions.     

Influence of temperature distributions in EHL film on its thickness under high slip ratio conditions

This paper describes the influence of temperature rise of oil film in Hertzian contact area on the film thickness or profile under high slip ratio conditions. Temperatures of both surfaces of a ball and a disk as well as average temperature across the oil film were measured by means of an improved infrared. Two kinds of optical band-pass filters were used to separate the radiations from the ball surface and the oil film through an infrared transparent disk made of sapphire glass. In case of temperature measurement of the disk surface, another sapphire glass disk was coated with 300 nm chromium layer on the contact surface to radiate the infrared from the disk surface and also to intercept the radiation from the ball surface and the oil film. Temperature profiles across the oil film were estimated by assuming a parabolic profile with the measured three kinds of temperatures.For case within 200% in slip ratio, both minimum and central film thickness decreased under constant entrainment velocity as slip ratio increased. Measured film shapes were not flat at central Hertzian contact region under high-slip condition and differed from the results by the conventional EHD theory assuming constant viscosity in the direction of film thickness. The profile of Couette flow varied due to the distribution of oil film temperature in thickness direction. The viscosity wedge action, that is the variation of the profile of Couette flow causes reduction of film thickness or deformation of film profile. For case over 200% in slip ratio, the relation between central film thickness and slip ratio under constant relative slide speed had a great difference from the results calculated from the formula presented by Chittenden et al.     

螺杆泵斜-平面固定瓦推力轴承润滑特性分析

为了提升润滑油系统可靠性,避免轴承磨损,采用CFD分析螺杆泵斜-平面固定瓦推力轴承的润滑特性。计算该螺杆泵螺杆轴向力,得到油膜承载力数值范围;采用有限差分法得到油膜压力分布与厚度分布,采用有限体积法仿真分析不同油膜厚度、不同进油温度时轴承的压力场。仿真结果表明：温度通过影响润滑油黏度对轴承压载产生影响,当油膜厚度固定时,进油温度越低,润滑油黏度越大,轴承所受压载越大;当进油温度一定时,油膜厚度降低,则承载能力增加。因此,在低温启动滑油泵时,油膜由薄变厚平衡螺杆轴向力的过程中,轴承压载可能会超过许用压载,从而导致轴承磨损。     

基于动态子结构的主轴承热弹性流体润滑研究

研究基于动态子结构缩聚的轴承热弹性流体动力学(TEHD)基本理论和求解方法;建立某V型8缸内燃机主轴承的TEHD仿真模型,分别计算得到各主轴承在最大载荷工况下的油膜压力、油膜厚度、摩擦功耗、轴心轨迹和油膜温度等润滑特性;针对润滑状况较差的第3主轴承,进行TEHD、EHD(弹性流体动力学)和HD(流体动力学)不同仿真求解方法的对比研究。研究结果表明,该内燃机的第3主轴承最小油膜厚度和最大油膜压力等润滑性能最差,需要进行相应的改进设计;TEHD求解中计及了润滑油和轴瓦热效应的影响,能获得更高的轴承润滑特性计算精度。     

润滑油水侵对动压可倾瓦推力轴承润滑性能的影响*

针对核主泵、船用轴系等特定工况下推力轴承润滑油的进水问题,以46润滑油和68润滑油为例研究润滑油水侵对推力轴承润滑性能的影响。通过黏度测试获得润滑油中水分质量分数为0、0.5%、1.0%时的运动黏度,采用黏温曲线对润滑油含水前后的动力黏度进行表征。将润滑油的黏温关系代入推力轴承的润滑计算当中,获得不同含水量下轴承的最小油膜厚度、温升、流量及功耗等静态特性参数,并分析含水量对推力轴承起飞转速的影响。研究结果表明：润滑油含水后对最小油膜厚度和功耗影响较大,对温升和流量影响较小;随着润滑油含水量的增加最小油膜厚度和功耗均降低,而温升增大,流量减小;使用2种润滑油在不含水和水分质量分数为0.5%时的起飞转速都在50 r/min以下,水分质量分数为1.0%时起飞转速都在50 r/min以上,表明随着含水量的增加起飞转速增大。     

可倾瓦推力轴承惰转过程的最小膜厚预测方法

为建立可倾瓦推力轴承惰转过程中最小油膜厚度的预测方法,依据核主泵推力轴承的实际工作情况,基于雷诺方程的自编程序,分别进行热态和冷态下主、副轴瓦润滑性能参数的计算与数值模拟分析,提出可倾瓦推力轴承的最小油膜厚度的理论拟合公式,并对最小膜厚的计算值和拟合值进行对比和分析。结果表明：随着转速降低,主轴瓦的最小膜厚单调减小,副轴瓦的最小膜厚先增加后减小;主、副轴瓦最小膜厚的计算值可以和拟合值较好地对应,验证了理论拟合公式的可靠性。提出的理论拟合公式可以通过额定转速下的最小膜厚计算结果预测多种工作条件下的最小油膜厚度,为主泵惰转的安全性提供重要参考。     

The investigation of oil film thickness in heavily-loaded contact

An experimental study of the shape and thickness of the oil film during rolling in a thrust ball bearing has been carried out by the interference method.The experimental results showed good agreement with theory. Oil film thickness was affected mainly by the rolling velocity, viscosity of oil and maximum Hertzian stress. The groove radius had no effect on the film thickness. With increase of rolling velocity the film thickness increases and then reduces sharply owing to temperature rise and the non-Newtonian properties of the lubricant. A qualitative similarity was derived from the experimentally observed dimensionless shapes of the film and of the dimensionless theoretical shapes of the oil film for the lubricant in the non-Newtonian state. The flat “squashed” contact area diminished and disappeared with rise in velocity, which agreed with theoretical predictions.Good agreement was found between the theoretical and the experimental values of the oil film thickness and the friction coefficients for a ball sliding on a plane. Values of relaxation time for oil agree with values observed by the vibration method.The interference method is proposed to estimate the relation of the relaxation time for lubricants to the pressure and temperature up to maximum Hertzian pressures of 14,000 kg/cm². Experimental studies by the interference method and the solution of the non-isothermal hydrodynamic contact problem for liquids both in the Newtonian and non-Newtonian state provide a method of calculation of the friction coefficient.     

Performance of synthetic oils in the hydrodynamic regime ‐ II. Generalisation

In Parti I the results of an extensive experimental investigation of the performance of environmentally adapted oils in the hydrodynamic regime were reported. Four oils were tested in a tilting‐pad thrust bearing for different combinations of load, shaft speed, and supply oil temperature. In this second part, details of a generalisation procedure are described. A number of parameters representing the physical properties of an oil, such as viscosity and viscosity‐temperature coefficient, are adopted. The influence of each of these parameters on minimum oil film thickness, maximum temperature rise, and bearing power loss is then analysed. It is shown that viscosity measured at the supply oil temperature is the most important parameter. The effects of the viscosity‐temperature coefficient and oil thermal conductivity are less pronounced and yet significant. It is also shown that it is not possible to select an optimum oil that yields maximised oil film thickness, minimised temperature rise, and minimised power loss at the same time.     

考虑油膜润滑的轮毂轴承弯曲疲劳寿命预测与分析*

为精确分析预测某型轿车轮毂轴承的弯曲疲劳寿命,考虑轴承工作状态下游隙与油膜厚度的关系,以及温度对游隙和油膜厚度的影响,结合点接触弹流油膜厚度计算方法,精确计算其最小油膜厚度值;根据ISO提供的对Lundberg-Palmgren寿命模型修正方法,计算油膜参数和润滑剂黏度比,从而确定修正系数,建立改进的寿命模型。为了验证改进模型的正确性,使用旋转弯曲疲劳寿命试验机进行疲劳试验,试验结果在误差合理区间内,证明研究模型的可靠性。建立轮毂轴承载荷分布分析模型,讨论中心距对最大滚动体载荷的影响,研究轮毂轴承的疲劳寿命在不同纯弯矩载荷和不同车速下随中心距的变化规律。结果表明：弯矩载荷是影响疲劳寿命的主要因素,增加中心距可以延长轴承寿命;轴承润滑条件与轴承转速有关,在一定范围内,转速越高,其内部润滑越充分,使用寿命越长。     

Hydrodynamic Performance of a Thrust Bearing with Micropatterned Pads

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the influence of surface texturing on hydrodynamic lubrication of tilting-pad thrust bearings in terms of bearing power loss, operating temperature, and oil-film thickness. For this purpose, the working faces of six thrust pads from a 228.6-mm-outer-diameter bearing were textured. The textured surface consisted of a system of crossing channels of less than 10 μm in depth. Tests were conducted with a VG68 mineral turbine oil supplied to the bearings at a constant temperature of 50°C and flow rate of 15 L/min. The following parameters were measured: frictional torque, pad and collar temperatures, oil-film thickness, and pressure profiles along two circumferential lines. No significant change in collar and pad temperature could be observed when the patterned bearing was used. However, the textured bearing showed a tendency to exhibit lower power loss especially when an optimum oil flow supply rate was used. At the same time, inlet and outlet film thicknesses for the patterned bearing showed larger values than those obtained during tests on the plain babbitt pads.     

轴承结构参数对曲轴主轴承润滑性能的影响

针对曲轴主轴承润滑性能的影响因素研究,建立考虑轴颈直径、轴承宽径比和轴承间隙3种轴承结构参数的曲轴主轴承热弹性流体动力润滑模型,分析不同轴承结构参数下的主轴承最大油膜压力、最小油膜厚度、最高轴承温度和最大摩擦功率损失。计算结果表明：轴承结构参数对主轴承润滑性能有很大影响;当轴颈直径和轴承宽径比变大时,主轴承最大油膜压力会出现减小的情况,最小油膜厚度变大、最高轴承温度升高和摩擦功率损失增加;内燃机主轴承的轴承间隙会随着轴颈直径和轴承宽径比的不同而有不同影响,且轴承间隙对主轴承最高温度和最大摩擦功率损失的影响较为显著。     

Measurement of lubricating film thickness,temperature and pressure in gear contacts with surface topography as a parameter

Thin film transducers, sputtered onto a tooth flank, are used to measure temperature, pressure and oil film thickness profiles in gear contact. The former two are resistance sensors, while the film thickness sensor functions as a capacitive transducer. Experiments were carried out with ground and hobbed gears. The measurements are repeated after the tooth flank has been polished. The differences of the measured values for the ‘rough’ and ‘smooth’ surfaces are used for comparisons between differently machined surfaces. An EHD simulation programme has been developed which calculates film thickness and contact pressure, also taking surface roughness into account.     

The Effects of Viscosity and Clearance on the Performance of Hydrodynamic Journal Bearings

In the present work, the effects of viscosity and clearance ratios have been analyzed on the reliable performance and design of a steady-loaded, pressure-fed, hydrodynamic cylindrical bearing. The technique for bearing performance evaluation has been developed based on the maximum oil temperature in the region of load carrying oil film, and variation of oil viscosity with temperature.

In this paper viscosity coefficients have been determined using iterative procedures for different oils. And also, a viscosity integral has been evaluated by method of splines as a function of inlet oil temperature to the load carrying oil film and exit oil temperature from the oil film. The viscosity integral has also been evaluated for a bearing operating under different conditions. Thus, by comparison of the viscosity integrals, exit oil temperature from the load carrying oil film and safe load carrying capacity of a bearing with different clearance ratio and using different oils have been examined. Nomographs have also been plotted for easy assessment of bearing performance.

The developed technique gives a more realistic approach for design and performance evaluation of a bearing as compared to conventional procedures. This may have potential as an effective tool to assess performance of a hydrodynamic journal bearing.     

A FEM approach to simulation of tilting-pad thrust bearing assemblies

Finite-element method (FEM) modelling is applied to analysis of the performance of hydrodynamic tilting-pad thrust bearing assemblies. A 3D model of the bearing assembly that includes the bearing pad and shaft is used to assess the influence of operating conditions on bearing parameters such as temperature and oil film distributions across the pads. The model is first applied to the investigation of a spherically pivoted-pad. Through comparison with results from experiments carried out on just such a bearing, good correlation between the model and experimental results is found for maximum oil film temperature, pressure distribution and thickness. The model is then applied to the examination of a bearing having spring-supported babbitt pads. The effect of different oil types on a spring-supported thrust bearing is analysed. Further application of the model to investigate the same spring-supported pad, this time with a resilient surface coating, is discussed.