Evaluation of wear phenomena of journal bearings by close to component testing and application of a numerical wear assessment

Abstract

Hydrodynamic journal bearings are subjected to progressively rough loading conditions leading to an increased share of operation in mixed and boundary lubrication. This results in increased frictional losses, additional wear and a higher chance of failure, which calls for the understanding of wear processes and the necessity of a numerical assessment. We conducted wear investigations of journal bearings by making use of a close-to-component test setting, and the progress of wear could be linked to the introduced frictional energy and in combination with a comprehensive surface analysis tribological effects could be resolved in detail. Achieved wear coefficients were implemented in a novelly developed numerical framework, which allows for the dynamic numerical evaluation of operation in the fluid and mixed lubrication regime and simultaneously occurring wear processes. By comparing numerical and experimental results, we evaluated the numerical framework's capability to conduct holistic simulations including aspects like dynamically changing operation conditions, fluid and mixed lubrication as well as wear.