Acoustic Emission and Specific Film Thickness for Operating Spur Gears

2007 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 860-867 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. I. Raja Hamzah ◽  
D. Mba

This paper presents experimental results correlating acoustic emission (AE) activity and the specific film thickness (λ) for operational spur gears. This relationship was established by spraying liquid nitrogen onto a rotating gear wheel, thereby reducing its operating temperature and controlling the specific film thickness for a range of load and speed conditions. It is concluded that the level of AE activity is dependent on the specific film thickness and the source of AE during meshing is predominately due to asperity contact. Furthermore, measurements of AE activity may offer an opportunity to quantify the level of asperity contact for meshing gears under a range of operating conditions.

Author(s):  
R. I. Raja Hamzah ◽  
D. Mba

This paper presents experimental evidence of the correlation between Acoustic Emission (AE) activity and the specific film thickness (λ) for operational spur and helical gears. Whilst recording AE activity for a range of test conditions the specific film thickness was varied during operation by spraying liquid nitrogen onto the rotating gear wheel. It was noted that the AE activity reduced significantly as the theoretically estimated specific film thickness increased. It is concluded that the measurements of AE activity may offer an opportunity to quantify the level of asperity contact for meshing gears under a range of operating conditions.


Author(s):  
R. I. Raja Hamzah ◽  
D. Mba

This paper presents experimental evidence of the correlation between Acoustic Emission (AE) activity and the specific film thickness (λ) for operational spur and helical gears. Whilst recording AE activity for a range of test conditions the specific film thickness was varied during operation by spraying liquid nitrogen onto the rotating gear wheel. It was noted that the AE activity reduced significantly as the theoretically estimated specific film thickness increased. It is concluded that the measurements of AE activity may offer an opportunity to quantify the level of asperity contact for meshing gears under a range of operating conditions.


2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. I. Raja Hamzah ◽  
Khamis R. Al-Balushi ◽  
D. Mba

This paper presents experimental findings on the generation of acoustic emission (AE) from operational spur and helical gears as a function of specific film thickness (λ). The latter was varied while the gears were operating by spraying liquid nitrogen onto the rotating gear wheel over a range of load and speed conditions. It was observed that the level of AE activity was dependent on the specific film thickness (λ) and consequently the level asperity contact. The presented finding on both spur and helical gears is the first known attempt at correlating friction, film thickness, and gear operating conditions with AE.


Author(s):  
C J Hooke

Most engineering point contacts operate in, or close to, the elastic piezoviscous regime. A general interpolation procedure is presented by which the minimum film thickness in any such contact may be estimated. This procedure matches all existing numerical and experimental results with high accuracy. Design charts are provided and these enable the minimum film thickness to be read directly and also allow the effect of changes in contact geometry and operating conditions to be assessed.


1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 456-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian (Jane) Wang ◽  
Fanghui Shi ◽  
Si C. Lee

Numerical analyses of finite journal bearings operating with large eccentricity ratios were conducted to better understand the mixed lubrication phenomena in conformal contacts. The average Reynolds equation derived by Patir and Cheng was utilized in the lubrication analysis. The influence function, calculated numerically using the finite element method, was employed to compute the bearing deformation. The effects of bearing surface roughness were incorporated in the present analysis for the calculations of the asperity contact pressure and the asperity contact area. The numerical solutions of the hydrodynamic and asperity contact pressures, lubricant film thickness, and asperity contact area were evaluated based on a simulated bearing-journal geometry. The calculations revealed that the asperity contact pressure may vary significantly along both the width and the circumferential directions. It was also shown that the asperity contacts and the lubricant film thickness were strongly dependent on the bearing width, asperity orientation, and operating conditions.


Author(s):  
R J Chittenden ◽  
D Dowson ◽  
C M Taylor

The existence of a coherent film of lubricant between highly loaded machine elements has been recognized for many years. Over this period of time measurements of film thickness have gone hand in hand with theoretical analyses in the field now known as elastohydrodynamic lubrication. The experimental techniques of capacitance, electrical resistance and X-ray measurement have been supplemented by the use of optical interferometry while the analytical expressions obtained with the use of elegant simplifications have been superseded by those developed from extensive and comprehensive computational procedures. These developments in experimental techniques have yielded a substantial number of measurements of both minimum and central film thickness. Likewise, the advent of the digital computer has allowed the derivation of a large number of solutions to the problem of elastohydrodynamic lubrication of concentrated contacts. All these results, covering a wide range of geometrical conditions, are to be found in the literature, yet little attempt appears to have been made to assemble a representative set of experimental data to permit a detailed evaluation of the theoretical formulae for elliptical contacts. The second part of this paper therefore considers the correlation between a number of experimental studies covering a wide range of operating conditions and geometries, and the predictions of recent elastohydrodynamic theory. Some of the important aspects of each set of experimental results are then considered and examples are provided which illustrate the following points: 1. Good estimates of lubricant film thickness may be obtained from the theoretical expressions recently derived, even when the dimensionless parameters involved are outside the ranges considered in the derivation of the formulae. 2. The discrepancies which exist between theoretical predictions and some of the measured film thicknesses are nevertheless quite large, even when the dimensionless parameters are within their usual limits. On the whole there is good agreement between experiment and theory, while the general trend of the results indicates that theoretical predictions may underestimate the minimum film thickness by about 10 per cent and the central film thickness by about 25 per cent. This measure of agreement is quite remarkable when the extreme difficulty of interpreting the magnitudes of effective and very thin mean film thicknesses between machined components in various forms of experimental equipment is considered.


Author(s):  
Mihai Arghir ◽  
Omar Benchekroun

Abstract This paper presents a new structural bump foil model that can handle all operating conditions from start-up to full speed. The model is based on a nonlinear contact algorithm with friction and gaps. The top foil is modeled as a curved beam while bump foil uses a coupled truss model. The model considers the gaps between the bump foil and the bearing casing, between the bump foil and the top foil and between the rotor and the top foil. Thus, any numerical interference between the rotor and the top foil is avoided. A mixed lubrication model is used for the thin film pressures. Following this algorithm, contact pressures appear if the film thickness is less than three times the equivalent roughness of the rotor and of the top foil. Fluid pressures are calculated from numerical solutions of Reynolds equation while contact pressures, if present, are calculated with the model of Greenwood and Williamson. The model is validated by comparisons with the experimental results obtained for start-up operating conditions of a first-generation foil bearing of 38.1 mm diameter with static loads of 10–50 N. Theoretical predictions of the start-up torque and takeoff speed compare well with experimental results. It is also shown how manufacturing bump height errors can explain the differences between theoretical and experimental predictions. Further validations are presented for the same bearing operating at high speeds (30, 45, and 55 krpm) and heavy static loads (up to 200 N). The calculated minimum film thickness and attitude angle are compared with experimental data from the literature.


Author(s):  
Mihai Arghir ◽  
Omar Benchekroun

Abstract The paper presents a new structural bump foil model that can handle all operating conditions from start-up to full speed. The model is based on a non-linear contact algorithm with friction and gaps. The top foil is modeled as a curved beam while bump foil uses a coupled truss model. The model considers the gaps between the bump foil and the bearing casing, between the bump foil and the top foil and between the rotor and the top foil. Thus, any numerical interference between the rotor and the top foil is avoided. A mixed lubrication model is used for the thin film pressures. Following this algorithm, contact pressures appear if the film thickness is less than three times the equivalent roughness of the rotor and of the top foil. Fluid pressures are calculated from numerical solutions of Reynolds equation while contact pressures, if present, are calculated with the model of Greenwood and Williamson. The model is validated by comparisons with the experimental results obtained for start-up operating conditions of a first generation foil bearing of 38.1 mm diameter with static loads of 10 N to 50 N. Theoretical predictions of the start-up torque and take-off speed compare well with experimental results. It is also shown how manufacturing bump height errors can explain the differences between theoretical and experimental predictions. Further validations are presented for the same bearing operating at high speeds (30, 45 and 55 krpm) and heavy static loads (up to 200 N). The calculated minimum film thickness and attitude angle are compared with experimental data from the literature.


Author(s):  
Susanta K. Das ◽  
Etim U. Ubong ◽  
Antonio Reis ◽  
K. Joel Berry

In this study, we experimentally studied our newly designed and built single cell and multi-cell high temperature (140°C∼180°C) polymer electrolyte membrane (HTPEM) fuel cell stack prototype at different operating conditions to investigate the effects of operating temperature, pressure and CO concentration on the cell performance. In particular, the effects of these parameters on the current-voltage characteristics of the fuel cell stack are investigated extensively. Experimental results obtained from both the single cell and multi-cell stack with high temperature PBI-based membrane show that the high CO tolerance at high operating temperature of HTPEM fuel cell stack makes it possible to feed the reformate gas directly from the reformer without further CO removal. In order to develop design parameters for fuel reformer, experimental data of this type would be very useful. The experimental results revealed the fact that a fuel reformer is a consumer of heat and water, and the HTPEM fuel cell stacks are a producer of heat and water. Therefore, the integration of the fuel cell stack and the reformer is expected to improve the entire system’s performance and efficiency. The results obtained from this study showed significant variations in current-voltage characteristics of HTPEM fuel cell stack at different temperatures with different CO poisoning rates. The results are promising to understand the overall system performance development strategy of HTPEM fuel cell in terms of current-voltage characteristics while fed with on-site reformate with different CO ratios in the anode fuel stream.


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