• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.382-388
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• 2019

It is currently well known that surface textures act as lubricant reservoirs, entrap wear debris, and hydrodynamic bearings, which can lead to certain increases in load-carrying capacities. Until recently, the vast majority of research has focused on parallel sliding machine components such as thrust bearings, mechanical face seals, piston rings, etc. However, most sliding bearings have a convergent film shape in the sliding direction and their hydrodynamic pressure is mainly generated by the wedge action. Following the first part of the present study that investigates the effect of groove position on the lubrication performances of inclined slider bearings, this paper focuses on the effects of groove depths and film thicknesses. Using a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, FLUENT, the continuity and Navier-Stokes equations are numerically analyzed. The results show that the film thickness and groove depth have a significant influence on the pressure distribution. The maximum pressure occurs at the groove depth where the vortex is found and, as the depth increases, the pressure decreases. There is also a groove depth to maximize the supporting load with the film thickness. The friction force acting on the slider decreases with deeper grooves. Therefore, properly designed groove depths, depending on the operating conditions, can improve the load-carrying capacity of inclined slider bearings as compared to the bearings without a groove.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.281-286
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• 2015

Automotive transmission systems are assembled with a large number of gears and shafts, and rolling bearings are used to ensure their smooth operation. Gear oil in the gear box contains solid particles such as wear debris from contacting gears and metallic chips. This particle-enriched lubricating oil can cause premature failure of the rolling bearings. Research aimed at improving the service life of these rolling bearings has been confined mainly to design and lubrication of the inner/outer rings and the rolling elements. In this paper, we redesigned the shape of the cage pocket of a deep groove ball bearing to reduce the premature failure due to particle contamination. Test bearings are assembled with this new cage design containing a hole punched in the cage pocket. Endurance tests are carried out using the contaminated lubricating oil with miracle grid as hard particle. The duration and damaged bearing component shapes are compared for two different cages. The B₁₀ life of bearing with new cage is increased by about 66% compared to the conventional cage. This is because the hard particles can be easily discharged through the pocket hole without staying for a long time in the lubrication regions. This greatly decreases abrasive wear and dents on the highly stressed ball bearing surfaces. Therefore, the cage design of this study, containing a pocket hole, can significantly delay the premature failure of rolling bearings and improve the endurance life.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.587-606
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• 2013

The given paper presents a new approach in design of seismic isolation systems of base isolated buildings. The idea is to install not one big size rubber bearing under the columns and/or shear walls, or one by one with certain spacing under the load-bearing walls, but to install a group/cluster of small size bearings, in order to increase the overall effectiveness of the isolation system. The advantages of this approach are listed and illustrated by the examples. Also the results of analyses of some buildings where the approach on installation of clusters of rubber bearings was used in their isolation systems are given for two cases: i) when the analyses are carried out based on the provisions of the Armenian Seismic Code, and ii) when the time history analyses are carried out. Obtained results are compared and discussed. Paper also presents, as an example, detailed analysis and design of the 18-story unique building in one of the residential complexes in Yerevan. Earthquake response analyses of this building were carried out in two versions, i.e. when the building is base isolated and when it is fixed base. Several time histories were used in the analyses. Comparison of the obtained results indicates the high effectiveness of the proposed structural concepts of isolation systems and the need for further improvement of the Seismic Code provisions regarding the values of the reduction factors. A separate section in the paper dedicated to the design of high damping laminated rubber-steel bearings and to results of their tests.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.114-122
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• 2019

High-speed rotating machinery requires low cost and reliable bearing elements with low friction, stable rotordynamic characteristics, and a simple design. This study experimentally evaluates the effects of bearing-support elements on the vibrational characteristics of a small-sized, high-speed permanent magnetic motor. A series of coast down tests from 100 krpm characterize the vibrational behaviors, rotor displacement, and housing acceleration of motors supported by ball bearings, ball bearings with a metal mesh damper, and gas foil bearings, respectively. Two eddy-current sensors installed in the horizontal and vertical directions measure the displacement of the rotor at its front nut, and a 3-axis accelerometer attached to the motor housing measures the housing acceleration. The test results reveal that synchronous (1X) vibration components most significantly affect the rotor displacement and housing acceleration, independent of the bearing-support elements. The motor supported by the deep-groove ball bearings results in the largest rotor vibrations increasing with speed; this is due to the absence of a damping mechanism. Additionally, the metal mesh damper effectively reduces the rotor displacement, housing acceleration, and sound-pressure level in the high-speed region (i.e., above 40 krpm), thus implying its substantial damping performance when installed on the outer race of the ball bearing. Lastly, the gas foil bearing supported motor yields the smallest rotor displacement, housing acceleration, and lowest sound-pressure level because of its hydrodynamic airborne operation, which does not require rolling elements that may cause mechanical friction and vibrations.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2021

Ball bearing is a device that supports and transmits a load acting on a rotating shaft, and it is a type of rolling bearings that uses the rolling friction of the balls by inserting balls between the inner ring and the outer ring. Grease, which is prepared by mixing a thickener with a base oil, is a lubricant commonly used in bearings and has the advantage of a simple structure and easy handling. Bearings are increasingly being used in high value-added products such as semiconductors, aviation, and robots in the era of the 4th industrial revolution. Accordingly, there is an increasing demand for bearing grease. The selection of grease is an important factor in the bearing design. Therefore, a study must be conducted on the grease life evaluation to select an appropriate grease according to operating conditions such as a high temperature, high rotational speed, and high load. In this study, we evaluate the life of ball-bearing grease according to various operating conditions, namely, temperature, speed, and load changes. For this, we develop and theoretically verify a grease life test machine for ball bearings. We conduct a life test of grease according to various operating conditions of bearings and predict the grease life with a 10% and 50% failure probability using the Weibull analysis. In addition, we analyze the oxide characteristics of the grease over time using the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the deterioration characteristics of the grease using the carbonyl index.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.235-243
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• 2023

This paper presents the fabrication process of water-lubricated plastic bearings. Plastic bearings require good mechanical properties and tribological properties as well as elasticity and shock resistance, especially when lubricated in dirty water conditions. In this study, sleeve-type plastic bearings are produced by winding a prepreg sheet, which primary contains nitrile rubber (NBR)-modified epoxy, self-lubricating fillers, and various types of lattice-structured reinforcing fibers such as carbon, Aramid, and polyethylene terephthalate. A thermosetting epoxy is chemically modified with NBR to impart elasticity and low-friction characteristics in water conditions. Experimental investigations are conducted to examine the mechanical and tribological characteristics of the developed bearing materials, and the results are compared with the characteristics of a commercial plastic bearing (Thordon SXL), well known as a water-lubricated bearing. A Thordon bearing (mainly composed of polyurethane) exhibits an extremely low load-bearing capacity and is thus only suitable for medium loading (1~10MPa). The tribological characteristics of the test materials are evaluated through Falex block-on-ring (LFW-1) friction and wear tests. The results indicate that friction exhibited by the carbon-fiber-reinforced NBR-10wt.%-modified epoxy composite material, incorporated with the addition of 20wt.% UHMWPE and 6wt.% paraffin wax, is lower than that of the Thorden bearings, whereas its wear resistance surpass that of Thorden ones. Because of these features, the load carrying capacity of the fabricated composite (>10MPa) is higher than that of the Thorden bearings. These results confirm the applicability of water-lubricated plastic bearing materials developed in this study.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.748-752
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• 2004

Fluid dynamic bearings (FDBs) have been replacing ball bearings of the HDD spindle motor very rapidly. But there are several demerits of HDB, such as high friction torque, variable viscosity of the fluid lubricant depending on operating temperature, low stiffness, and etc. Eccentricity is one of the major parameters which affects the static and dynamic characteristics. As the static eccentricity is larger, the stiffness and the damping coefficients become bigger. But friction torque is relatively unaffected by the static eccentricity. This research proposes a new type of journal bearing with asymmetric journal grooves which results in better dynamic characteristics. The static and dynamic characteristics of the new journal bearing are investigated by solving the Reynolds' equation with FEM, and the transient analysis is performed to predict the dynamic behavior of rotor by solving the equations of motion of a HDD spindle system with Runge-Kutta method. The result shows that the proposed Journal bearings have much bigger stiffness and damping coefficients compared with the conventional symmetric ones. And consequently, it has smaller whirl radius and tilting angle.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.231-240
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• 1988

An investigation is carried out for the load capacity characteristics of the externally pressurized air lubricated journal bearings both theoretically and experimentally. Theoretical analysis is made using the incremental method and the finite element method, and the discharge coefficient is considered. The experiments are performed for five bearings which are produced according to the rows of supply holes and the presence of poket or step. The results are compared with the numerical results. The present numerical results are in better agreement with the available experimental results than any other earlier numerical results for the bearings having one row and two rows of supply holes with pocket. The present numerical and experimental results show that the bearing with step has larger load capacity than that without step and that the load capacity increases as the clearance ratio increases.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.81-90
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• 1985

For the prediction of the real vibration and stability behaviour of rotor-beaing systems, various additional effects were considered, which are simplified or neglected by conventional modeling of real rotors. These are specially coupled spring and damping coefficients of journal bearings, spring and damping coefficients of external supporting elements for bearings, static load exerting on gears or pulleys by power transmissions, excitation through the gear tolerance or failure, and positive or negative spring and damping characteristics of magnetic or sealing friction force. Considering these effects, a computer program for the calculation of free and forced vibration of rotating shafts supported by two or more bearings is developed, based on the transfer matrixed method. The reliability of the calculated resutls were ascertianed by comparing with the measured data on high speed rotors supported by two journal bearings.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.475-481
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• 2001

Foil bearings have been successfully used for small high speed rotors, such as ACM(Air Cycle Machine), turbo charger, turbo compressor, high speed motor, etc. Recently advanced researches are concentrated on the high load capacity and the extreme temperature foil bearings to extend the application boundary. Some bearings are already adopted into cryogenic machines and micro gas turbines. In this paper, a foil journal bearing designed for high load capacity, which is under development, is introduced. The bearing is for the turbo refrigerator which has a rotor of 18${\~}$25 kgf rotating at 23,000${\~}$38,000 rpm. This application is well beyond conventional spectrum of foil bearings because the rotor is relatively heavy and the rotational speed is low. Therefore, the development is challenging. The foil bearing is a bump type, the size is 60mm in diameter and 50mm in length, the operating fluid is air and rotational speed is 26,000 rpm. In-house software was developed and used for bearing design. Tested maximum load capacity is 80kgf, 0.62 in terms of load capacity coefficient, and testing is being continued.