INVESTIGATION OF A SYSTEMS CONCEPT FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE SOLID LUBRI-CATED BEARINGS

SOLID LUBRICATION OFFERS SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES FOR ROLLING ELEMENT BEARINGS AND MACHINERY EXPOSED TO EXTREME CONDITIONS. A MAJOR CONSTRAINT IS THAT CURRENT DESIGNS FOR SUCH BEARINGS ARE BASED ON HYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION (OIL AND GREASE). THE CHALLENGE IS TO IDENTIFY A NEW CONCEPT THAT FOCUSES THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE EFFECTVE USE OF SOLIDS AND A METHODOLOGY FOR SOLID LUBRICANT-BEARING SYSTEM INTEGRATION. THE CONCEPT BEING PROPOSED IS THAT THE BEARING AND LUBRICANT ARE INTERDEPENDENT AND COMPATIBILITY INVOLVING (1) ENVIRONMENT (2) LUBRICANT-BEARING INTERFACE AND (3) BEARING DESIGN PARAMETERS IS A CRITICAL FACTOR. FOR BEARING OPERATION TARGETED AT 1000/1500 DEGREE F AND DN IN EXCESS OF 1M, THE OPPORTUNITY TO PURSUE THIS CONCEPT WILL EMPHASIZE EMERGING COMPLEX SULFUR CONTAINING COM POUNDS (E.G. OXYTHIOMOLYBDATES) COUPLED WITH TECHNICAL CERAMICS AS THE PRIMARY PHASE I EFFORT. CRITICAL INTERFACES WILL INVOLVE ROLLERRACE, ROLLER-SEPARATOR AND SEPARATOR-LAND WITH SOLID LUBRICANT REPLENISHMENT FROM MULTIPLE SITES ON LAND-SEPARATOR WITH SOLID LUBRI CANT REPLENISHMENT FROM MULTIPLE SITES ON LAND-SEPARATOR COMPONENTS. ANALYSES WILL INCLUDE THERMAL EFFECTS AND LOAD LIMITS. THE RESULTS WILL ESTABLISH IMPORTANT LIFE CONTROLLING PROPERTIES AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN GUIDES FOR SOLID LUBRICATED HIGH TEMPERATURE BEARINGS.