
The aim of this study is to find the change in trend in the eccentricities of two journal bearings supporting the crankshaft of a single cylinder engine and the degree of misalignment of the shaft. We analyze the change in oil film thickness considering the wear scar under mixed-elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication regime at potential wear regions. For this, we first calculate the central eccentricities of the two journal bearings by using the mobility method. Then we calculate the outer end eccentricity by using the geometry of the bearings. Further, the tilting angle and degree of misalignment of the shaft are calculated by using the eccentricities of the two bearings. We show that the eccentricity of bearing #1, on which higher load is applied, increases at the beginning of the start-up cycle and during the coast-down cycle. However, the eccentricity of bearing #2, on which lower load is applied, decreases at the beginning of the start-up cycle and increases during the coast-down cycle. From the results of the analysis of oil film thickness, we show that the mixed-elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication regime for a misaligned shaft is at the initial stages of the start-up cycle for both bearing #1 and #2 and at the final stage of the coast-down cycle for only bearing #1.
The vibration data of bearings are very useful for monitoring and determining the condition of the bearings. The defect frequencies of ball bearings have been used for monitoring there condition. However, it is not easy to verify the defect frequencies as the wear progress. Therefore there is a need for an easy method to monitor the damages of bearings in real-time and to observe the variations in vibration characteristics as the wear progress. In this study, a bearing test equipment is constructed to diagnose the damage of bearings. The friction coefficient and vibration data are measured by using a torque sensor and an acceleration sensor, and the correlation between the measured data is analyzed to diagnose the condition of the bearing. We reached the following conclusions from the results. When the ball surface, inner and outer rings of a ball bearing are damaged, the friction coefficient increases to over 0.02 with an adhesion on the surface. Moreover this damage occurs more quickly with an increase in the number of revolutions. In the vibration characteristics, the amplitude of vibration wave appears high with an increase in the friction coefficient. In the high frequency range between 1000 and 2000 Hz, a wide range of frequency components with high amplitude occurs continuously irrespective of the number of revolutions.
The feel of writing is important to customers when they buy smart devices with stylus such as smartphones and tablet computers. With an aim to reproduce the tactile sensibility of writing instruments when people write on the glass display using a stylus, this study focuses on the frequency characteristics of writing instruments that can describe the vibrations of writing instruments sliding over counter surfaces. In addition, this study includes the effect of various factors influencing the friction of writing instruments such as lubricant, nib material, and contact type. We perform sliding experiments with six types of writing instruments and a sheet of paper to understand the relation between the friction conditions of the nib and the frequency characteristics. As this research focuses on the tactile perception of human skin when people use a writing instrument, the analysis of frequency characteristics is performed in the perceptible frequency range of mechanoreceptors in the human skin. As a result, three types of frequency characteristics are identified. Low frequency peaks are observed for a metal nib with ink; high frequency peaks are observed for a nib without ink; and, middle frequency peaks with a wide range of distribution occurs for fabric nibs with ink. Therefore, to implement the proper feel of writing, at least three types of vibrations have to be made.
A pin-on-disk test is performed to measure the wear volume of a ductile cast iron (DCI) roll when it wears down using a high carbon steel and two alloy steels at different sliding velocities between the roll and the material (steel). Normal pressure is set as constant and test temperatures are 400, 500 and $600^{\circ}C$. In addition, thermal softening behavior of the DCI roll is examined using a high-temperature micro-hardness tester and the surface hardness variation of the DCI roll is expressed in terms of temperature and heating time. Based on experimental data, a wear coefficient used in Archard's wear model for each material is obtained. The wear volume is clearly observed when the test temperature is $400^{\circ}C$ and sliding velocity varies. However, it is not measured at temperatures of $500^{\circ}C$ and $600^{\circ}C$ even with variations in sliding velocity. From the optical photographs of the pin and disk, the abrasive wear is observed at $400^{\circ}C$ clearly, but no at $500^{\circ}C$ and $600^{\circ}C$. At higher temperatures, the pin surface is not smooth and has many tiny caves distributed on it. It is found that wear volume is dependent on the carbon contents rather than alloy contents. Results also reveal that the variations of wear coefficients are almost linearly proportional to the carbon contents of the material.
Because the running speed of vehicles is increasing and a shorter braking distance is required, high heat-resistant brake pads are needed to satisfy the requirements of customers and car makers. In the near future, hazardous materials such as Cu, Cr, Zn, and Sb will be restricted from use in friction materials. Ceramic composites reinforced by carbon fibers are good candidates for eco-friendly friction materials. In this study, we develop ceramic composite friction materials. The friction materials are composed of carbon fibers, Si, SiC, graphite, and phenol resin and are prepared by hot forming and heat treatment at high temperatures. The density, void ratio, and compressive strength are $1.59-1.66g/cm^3$, 16.6-20, and 70-90 MPa, respectively. Friction and wear tests are performed using a pin-on-plate-type reciprocating friction tester at 25, 100, and $200^{\circ}C$. The counterpart material is a CrMoV steel extracted from a KTX brake disc. Friction coefficient, wear amount, and wear mechanism are measured and examined. We determine that the friction coefficients depend on the temperature and the fluctuation of the friction coefficients is larger at higher temperatures. The amount of wear increases with the surface temperatures of the specimens. The tribological properties of the developed composites are similar to those of a Cu-based sintered friction material. Through this study, it is confirmed that ceramic composite materials can be used as friction materials.
In sliding bearings, viscous friction due to high shear acting on the bearing surface raises the oil temperature. One of the mechanisms responsible for generating the load-carrying capacity in parallel surfaces is known as the viscosity wedge effect. In this paper, we investigate the effect of film-...
This paper presents a wear analysis procedure for calculating the wear of journal bearings during the start-up and coast-down cycles of a motoring stripped-down single cylinder engine operating with a tilted shaft. In order to decide whether the lubrication state of a journal bearing is in the mixed-elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication regime, we utilize lift-off speed and MOFT (most oil film thickness) under mixed-elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication regime at the corresponding aligned shaft. We formulate an equation for the modified film thickness in a misaligned journal bearing considering the additional wear volume described in Part I of this study. For this, we use the calculation results of the degree of misalignment and tilting angle obtained after finding the eccentricities of the two bearings supporting the crankshaft of a single cylinder engine. In this Part II, we calculate the wear of journal bearings using the fractional film defect coefficient, the asperity load sharing factor, and the modified specific wear rate for the application of mixed-elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication regime. We show that the accumulated wear volume after turning the ignition switch on and off once, increases to ${\sigma}=39{\mu}m$ and then decreases from ${\sigma}=39{\mu}m$ with increasing in surface roughness.
In order to characterize the adhesive properties and failure mechanisms of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films of two different thicknesses (130 nm and $1.2{\mu}m$), deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition on a Si substrate, scratch testing with a micro-indenter ($12.5{\mu}m$ tip radius) was performed under a linearly increasing load. These scratch tests were conducted under the same test conditions for both films. The critical load of each film was estimated from the scratch test results, based on a sharp increase in the coefficient of friction and a clear distinction of failure modes. The critical load was the basis for evaluating the adhesion strength of the films, and the $1.2{\mu}m-thick$ DLC film had superior adhesion strength. For better understanding of the failure modes, the following analyses were conducted: friction behavior and scratch tracks analysis using scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and 3-D profilometry. The scratch test results showed that failure modes were related to the thickness of the films. The 130 nm-thick DLC film underwent cohesive failure modes (cracks and chipping) before reaching to a gross failure stage. On the other hand, the thicker DLC film ($1.2{\mu}m-thick$) did not exhibit micro cracks before a sudden gross failure of the film together with the evidence of cracking and chipping of the Si substrate.
This work studies the flow behaviors in the gap between the friction pad and separator in wet-clutch systems. The fluid volume of the lubricant is modeled using the entire system of wet-clutch pack of a dual clutch transmission that has larger outer radius of odd gear shifts and smaller inner radius of even gear shifts. Flow behaviors in the gap of the clutch pad are computed using the gear shift modes that consider the real relative velocities between the friction pad and separator. Flow behaviors in the gap of the disengaged clutch pad are mainly investigated for the wet-clutch system, whereas the engaged clutch pad is modeled with no fluid rate through the contacting surfaces. The developed hydrodynamic fluid pressures and velocity fields in the clutch pad gap are computed to obtain the relevant information for managing flow rates in wet-clutch packs under dual operating conditions during gear shifts. These hydrodynamic pressures and velocity fields are compared on the basis of each gear level and gap location, which is necessary to determine the effects of groove patterns on the friction pad. Shear stresses in the gap locations are also computed on the basis of the gear level for the inner and outer clutch pads. The computed results are compared and used for the design of cooling capacity against frictional heat generation in wet-clutch pack systems.
Sapphire is an anisotropic material with excellent physical and chemical properties and is used as a substrate material in various fields such as LED (light emitting diode), power semiconductor, superconductor, sensor, and optical devices. Sapphire is processed into the final substrate through multi-wire saw, double-side lapping, heat treatment, diamond mechanical polishing, and chemical mechanical polishing. Among these, chemical mechanical polishing is the key process that determines the final surface quality of the substrate. Recent studies have reported that the material removal characteristics during chemical mechanical polishing changes according to the crystal orientations, however, detailed analysis of this phenomenon has not reported. In this work, we carried out chemical mechanical polishing of C(0001), R($1{\bar{1}}02$), and A($11{\bar{2}}0$) substrates with different sapphire crystal planes, and analyzed the effect of crystal orientation on the material removal characteristics and their correlations. We measured the material removal rate and frictional force to determine the material removal phenomenon, and performed nano-indentation to evaluate the material characteristics before and after the reaction. Our findings show that the material removal rate and frictional force depend on the crystal orientation, and the chemical reaction between the sapphire substrate and the slurry accelerates the material removal rate during chemical mechanical polishing.
The understanding of the friction characteristics of micro-textured surface is of great importance to enhance the tribological properties of nano- and micro-devices. We fabricate rectangular patterns with submicron-scale structures on a Si wafer surface with various pitches and heights by using a focused ion beam (FIB). In addition, we fabricate tilted rectangular patterns to identify the influence of the tilt angle ($45^{\circ}$ and $135^{\circ}$) on friction behaviour. We perform the friction test using lateral force microscopy (LFM) employing a colloidal probe. We fabricate the colloidal probe by attaching a $10{\pm}1-{\mu}m$-diameter borosilicate glass sphere to a tipless silicon cantilever by using a ultraviolet cure adhesive. The applied normal loads range between 200 nN and 1100 nN and the sliding speed was set to $12{\mu}m/s$. The test results show that the friction behavior varied depending on the pitch, height, and tilt angle of the microstructure. The friction forces were relatively lower for narrower and deeper pitches. The comparison of friction force between the sub-micro-structured surfaces and the original Si surface indicate an improvement of the friction property at a low load range. The current study provides a better understanding of the influence of pitch, height, and tilt angle of the microstructure on their tribological properties, enabling the design of sub-micro- and micro-structured Si surfaces to improve their mechanical durability.
In this study, we perform a numerical analysis to predict the film thickness and lubrication regions for a thrust ball bearing under different operating conditions. Film thinning and replenishment affect the film thickness in starved lubrication. As the inlet meniscus position is brought to the edge of the Hertz contact, the thin film thickness is calculated as starved equation. We use a film replenishment model to determine the recovery film thickness between rolling elements. We use a hydrodynamic model to describe film recovery, that results from the effects of surface tension. In this model, we consider the surface tension gradient in fluid depression as the driving force for fluid recovery. We use Fourier transform method to determine the time-dependent depth of depressed oil. We calculate the change in the central film thickness graphically by using the recovery equation in starved elastohydrodynamic lubrication(EHL) under operating conditions that include numbers of balls, sliding velocity, applied force, and ambient film thickness. We evaluate the degree of starvation by using the distance from the center of the contact area to the meniscus position. Parched lubrication, a phenomenon where the film thickness decreases consistently, occurs at the severe condition. We determine optimal values with respect to the numbers of balls, and sliding velocity. The investigation can contribute to the design operating conditions for proper lubrication.
A DE-side LBP tilting pad journal bearing of a 1-stage overhung heat-pump compressor in a propylene process exhibited abnormal high-temperature behavior. Its temperature had been relatively high at $78^{\circ}C$ from the beginning of operation. In 2014, after three years of operation, it increased suddenly and reached $103^{\circ}C$. Installing a varnish removal equipment and others managed to stabilize the temperature at $95^{\circ}C$. We undertook a troubleshooting approach for reviewing the comprehensive status and integrity of the temperature design of the bearing. We performed lubrication and heat-balance analysis, based on the design engineering data and documents supplied by the OEM. For the base design data of DE-side TPJB, evaluating the effects of key design variables on bearing metal temperature showed that firstly, increasing the bearing clearance and supply oil flow-rate, and next, changing the oil type, and finally, increasing the machined pad clearance and offset, are more effective in reducing the bearing metal temperature. Furthermore, a clarification meeting with the OEM revealed that an incorrect decision had been made to decrease the bearing clearance to eliminate the SSV harshness issue, while not maintaining a sufficient oil flow-rate. We conducted a detailed retrofit design analysis, wherein we increased the oil flow-rate and bearing clearance by decreasing the preload. We predicted that the bearing temperature would decrease to $63^{\circ}C$ from $75.7^{\circ}C$ even at the rerate condition. Finally, after installing and operating a retrofit replacement bearing in 2015, the bearing temperature stabilized at a low temperature of $65^{\circ}C$. Currently (January. 2017), two year later, the bearing metal temperature remains at $65^{\circ}C$. Therefore, we can conclude that the abnormal high-temperature behavior of the bearing has been resolved completely.
An ultra-high precise ejection process is essential in a dispensing system for fabricating various precision parts such as a semiconductor, LED, and camera module. The size of such parts has been decreasing, which implies that a precise ejecting technique is required. A phosphor-containing liquid is ejected via a dispenser using dual piezoelectric actuators that are used for generating a high-speed dispensing mechanism. The rod and nozzle continuously contact in high speed to eject the liquid. However, the high-strength filler or phosphor in the liquid causes wear on the surfaces of the rod and nozzle during the dispensing process. As a result, the ejection reliability decreases as the wear on the surfaces increases. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the wear characteristics of the rod and nozzle via an experiment and FE analysis. Reliability rests up to 1,000 cycles are conducted under relatively severe conditions. The flow rate and surfaces roughness of the rod and nozzle are measured in each ejection cycle. The surface images and wear volume are obtained before and after the tests and the ejection reliability is confirmed by measuring the flow rate of the liquid. The experimental results show that the ejection reliability is maintained up to 1,000k cycles; these results are validated by the simulation results.
Engine oil is a substance used for the lubrication of internal combustion systems. However, in some case, defects in engine systems may contaminate engine oil with fuel. Contaminated engine oil can cause problems in the normal functioning of a vehicle. In this study, we investigate the functional properties of engine oil contaminated with diesel fuel. The test results indicate that the engine oil contaminated with diesel fuel has low flash point, pour point, density, kinematic viscosity and cold cranking simulator value. The contaminated engine oil which has low plash point can cause fire and explosion accident. Furthermore, a four ball test indicates that the contaminated engine oil increases wear scar to poor lubricity. Moreover, we investigate the GC pattern using SIMDIST (simulated distillation) for determination of diesel in engine oil. The SIMDIST analytic result, diesel was detected at earlier retention time than engine oil in chromatogram. Thus the SIMDIST method can define whether engine oil is contaminated by diesel fuel or not. We can use the SIMDIST method for the diagnosis of oil condition instead of analyzing other physical properties that require many analytic instruments, large volume of oil sample and long analysis time.
This study investigates friction and wear characteristics of anodized aluminum (Al) alloy 6061 by using a reciprocating tribotester. The diameter and height of the specimen are 30 mm and 10 mm, respectively. The surface roughness of the mirrored-surface is approximately $0.01{\sim}0.02{\mu}m$, and it is used throughout the current study. As a result of anodizing, the depth and diameter of the nanopore are approximately $25{\mu}m$ and 30-40 nm, respectively. The testing conditions are as follows: loads of 1, 3, and 5 N; a frequency of 1 Hz; a stoke of 3 mm; and a duration of 1800 s. We use deionized water with a volume of approximately $25{\mu}l$, as the lubricant. Micro Vickers hardness measurements show that mirrored-surface specimens had lower hardness values than anodized specimens. Further, their coefficients of friction are lower than those of the anodized samples, and the width of their wear track increases with load, as expected. The anodized specimens' coefficients of friction increase with stable frictional behavior and exhibit insignificant load dependence. Further, we observe that the width of the wear track is less than that of the mirrored-surface specimens, and micro cracks are present near it. Moreover, the anodizing process increases the hardness of the samples, improving their wear resistance. These results indicate that nanoporous structures are not effective in lowering friction under the water-lubricated condition.
− In vertical hydro/hydraulic power turbine-generator applications, traditionally, cylindrical turbine guide bearings (TGBs) are widely used to provide turbine runner shafts with smooth rotation guides and supports. All existing cylindrical TGBs with simple plain pads have drawbacks such as having no pressure generation and film stiffness at the no-load condition and in addition, at the low-load/low-eccentricity condition, having very low film stiffness values and lacking design credibility in the stiffness values themselves. In this paper, in order to fundamentally improve the low-load/low-eccentricity performance of conventional cylindrical TGBs and thus enhance their design-application availability and usefulness, we propose to introduce a rotation-directional leading-edge taper to each partitioned pad, i.e., a pad leading-edge taper. We perform a design analysis of lubrication performance on 4-Pad×4-Row cylindrical TGBs to verify an engineering/technical usefulness of the proposed pad leading-edge taper. Analysis results show that by introducing the leading-edge taper to each pad of the cylindrical TGB one can expect a constant high average direct stiffness with a high degree of design credibility, regardless of load value, even at the low-load/low-eccentricity condition and also control the average direct stiffness value by exploring the taper height as a design parameter. Therefore, we conclude that the proposed pad leading-edge tapers are greatly effective in more accurately predicting and controlling rotordynamic characteristics of vertical hydro-power turbine-generator rotor-bearing systems to which cylindrical TGBs are applied.
−Drag torque reduction in a wet clutch pack is a key aspect of the design process of the dual clutch transmission (DCT) system. In order to reduce the drag torque caused by lubricant shear resistance, recently developed wet clutch pack systems of DCT, as well as automatic transmission and other four-wheel drive (4WD) couplings, frequently utilize wavy wet clutch pads. Therefore, wavy shape of friction pad are made on the groove patterns like waffle pattern for the reduction of drag torque. Additionally, the groove patterns are designed with larger channels at several locations on the friction pad to facilitate faster outflow of lubricant. However, channel performance is a function of the waviness of the friction pad at the location of the particular channel. This is because the discharge sectional area varies according to the waviness amplitude at the location of the particular channel. The higher location of the additional channel on the friction pad results in a larger cross-sectional area, which allows for a larger flow discharge rate. This results in reduction of the drag torque caused by the shear resistance of DCTF, because of marginal volume fraction of fluid (VOF) in the space between the friction pad and separator. This study computes the VOF in the space between the friction pad and separator, the hydrodynamic pressure developed, and the shear resistance of friction torque, by using CFD software (FLUENT). In addition, the study investigates the dependence of these parameters on the location and waviness amplitude of the channel pattern on the friction pad. The paper presents design guidelines on the proper location of high waviness amplitude on wavy friction pads.