A GEOMETRICAL SURFACE TEXTURE STUDY OF CYCLOID DRIVE DISCS AFTER BENCH TESTS

The article presents the results of a geometrical surface texture study of cycloid drive discs after bench tests. For this purpose, the working surfaces, such as peak and valley areas of the epicycloid and the holes inner surfaces of both discs, were investigated using contact profilometry. From each surface, a transverse profiles were extracted, before and after 50 cycles of bench test. The discs and the profiles were examined for signs of wear and roughness changes. For each profile, the Ra and Rz roughness parameters were determined. On the base of the obtained profiles and the values of roughness parameters, it can be stated that the assumed test parameters provide stable working conditions, with an uninterrupted lubrication film, which results in practically negligible and unmeasurable wear. Taking into account the operating specification of a helicopter winch as an example of potential application of the presented cycloidal drive, the developed solution fulfils the requirements concerning wear resistance.

Developing the Test Bench Software for the Technical Inspection of Volumetric Hydraulic Drives

Introduction. The article describes the test bench specialized software, developed for technical inspection of domestic and foreign volumetric hydraulic drives in repair enterprises and service centers. The results of bench tests using a hydraulic bench and software are presented. Materials and Methods For the application software development, G graphical programming language of the Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench (Lab- View) programming environment developed by the National Instruments Company has been used. The reliability of the results obtained has been confirmed by a series of bench tests of domestic and foreign volumetric hydraulic drives. Results. There has been developed and implemented new test bench software for the technical inspection of hydraulic drives of different models from domestic and foreign manufacturers in repair plants and service centers. The software is used to capture, process and store data from the sensors during testing, to calculate and output measurement data, to conduct nonlaboratory analysis of the testing process in graphical, textual and video formats, to calibrate sensors, and to store the test results in the electronic library system. The specialized software runs under the Microsoft Windows 7 x86 (32-bit) operating system and is installed on a personal computer of the hydraulic bench data processing unit. The developed software is characterized by the ergonomics of the user interface, the ability to control all the parameters of diagnosing the tested volumetric hydraulic drives. Discussion and Conclusion. Specialized software and the test bench permit high accurate monitoring of all technical condition parameters of the most common domestic and foreign volumetric hydraulic drives in accordance with the requirements of the manufacturers in the repair enterprises and service centers.

The Use of Innovative Contact Strip for Pantographs of Electric Rolling Stock. Experience in Operational and Bench Tests

Modern high-tech composite materials are widely used in various sectors of the economy, in particular, in railway transport. Among the areas of application of such innovative materials, the manufacturing of contact strips for pantographs of electric rolling stock should be mentioned. Innovation is primarily understood as the self-lubricating property of the working surface of the linings. The linings made of such materials differ from the traditional graphite (coal) ones by the increased content of metal additives, in particular copper, which limits the possibility of their use on electric rolling stock in the countries of the European Union. Regulatory restrictions on the content of copper (35% and 40%) are associated with possible damage to the contact wire, in the case of using overlays with a content of copper (metals) greater than these restrictions. On the railways of Ukraine (countries of the former USSR), there are also restrictions on the use of linings of different types according to the degree of wear of the contact wire, no more than 40 microns is allowed per 10 thousand passes of the locomotive pantograph along the contact wire. These standards are verified during operational and bench tests. The aim of the article is to present the types of tests and compare the obtained values with similar indicators in the case of using a traditional contact strip for pantographs of electric rolling stock. The results obtained confirm the possibility of using innovative linings on iron networks, since the wear of the contact wire during testing is much lower than that of the normative and knife than for traditional types of linings. In addition, during a set of tests, the fact of improving the quality of the working surface of the contact wire was established, which positively affects the extension of the service life of the contact wire.

The performance evaluation of heavy loaded tribosystems with vacuum ion-plasma PVD and DLC coatings

The results of studies of the physical, mechanical and tribological characteristics of PVD and DLC coatings are presented. The complex of basic mechanical properties (hardness H and elastic modulus E), as well as derivatives of mechanical characteristics H/E and Н3/Е2 , were investigated by the method of continuous indentation at various loads. The friction coefficient, the wear rate of the sample and the counterbody were determined as tribological indicators. The applied purpose of the work was to determine the friction unit for applying the developed coatings, materials and modes of applying PVD and DLC coatings. To solve this problem, a test bench was designed and built that simulates the operation of the selected friction unit. As a result of the research carried out, the results of laboratory and bench tests were compared. The performance of the coatings was determined by the volume of the tooth wear of the sleeve and the tip with the help of the method of micrometric measurements. As a result of the study of the surface morphology, the volumes of wear of rubbing conjugations and the intensity of their wear were determined. It has been established that the results of bench tests confirm laboratory studies and suggest that such an installation can be used for researching other heavily loaded spline conjugations.

Influence of Clearance on the Rocker Arm Pin on the Steerability and Stability of the Vehicle Motion

The article presents an analysis of the impact of a malfunction resulting from excessive clearance on the rocker arm pin of the front suspension on the vehicle’s steerability. The first part of the article presents an analysis of the influence of the clearance on the rocker arm pin on the geometry of the suspension and steering system. The occurrence of forces acting on the rocker arm pin in various phases of the vehicle motion was analyzed. To assess the vehicle’s steering, the vehicle’s response time to sudden steering wheel movement was used. The vehicle’s response time to sudden movement of the steering wheel was used to assess the vehicle’s steerability. The second part presents the results of bench tests and traction tests of a vehicle equipped with a specially made measuring rocker arm with the possibility of simulating a clearance. The tests were carried out on a class B passenger car in selected road tests. The results of measurements obtained for the roadworthy vehicle and the vehicle with the rocker arm with clearance were compared. The influence of the clearance on the rocker arm pin on the change of vehicle steerability in steady and dynamically changing conditions was analyzed. The test results show the effect of clearance on vehicle steering and on the vehicle steerability. The study tried to determine to what extent the clearance on the rocker arm affects the vehicle’s steerability and thus the safety in road traffic.

Modelling of Electric Submersible Pump Work on Gas-Liquid Mixture by Machine Learning

Oil wells in Western Siberia usually placed on artificial drilling pads, forming well clusters up to 30 wells. The flow rate of each well in the cluster measured by an automatic measuring unit one by one. Often flow rate measurement requires several hours and flow rate of a single well can be measured once a week or less. This led to situation then events affecting well rate can be invisible between measurements. Identifying such events can be extremely useful in many cases, for example for wells with unstable behavior or transient regimes. The same challenges are also faced at distant green fields during their development, there the flow rates can be measured once a month with a mobile unit. The objective of this paper is to develop a virtual flowmeter model based on indirect high-frequency data of well operation and ESP. In Gubkin University, at the Petroleum Reservoir and Production Engineering Department, bench tests of ESP5-50 (118 radial stages) on gas-liquid mixture in a wide range of volumetric gas content (βin = 0-60%), intake pressure (Pin = 0.6-2.1 MPa) and pump shaft speed (n= 2400-3600 rpm) were performed. Three vibration sensors were installed on the unit: on the ESP, at the ESP discharge, on the pipeline, which simulates the wellhead production tree. During the bench tests were recorded series of pressures at the intake, discharge and along the pump length, series of current and power consumption, as well as vibrations with frequency several times per second. Based on the bench test results, we investigated the possibility of indirect determination of well operation parameters during artificial lift modelling by machine learning. As a result, the approaches to modelling taking into account various sets of parameters (features) have been studied: based on hydraulic parameters – ESP intake and outlet pressure;based on hydraulic and electric parameters – current and power consumption;based on hydraulic, electric and vibrating parameters. The analysis of data series allowed to define the boundaries of stable ESP operation, namely the transition to surging and pump starvation. The novelty of the work is: –machine learning modeling of the gas-liquid mixture pumping process by electric submersible pump;–solving both direct and inverse issues: as virtual liquid flowmeter as, virtual gas content flowmeter at the pump intake.

Applying of Robotic Equipment to Perform Production Logging Operations in Extended Horizontal Exploration Wells Equipped with the Y-Tool System

This article describes the implementation process for use of robotic equipment to perform production logging in extended horizontal production wells equipped with a Y-Tool bypass system. The article describes in detail the process of searching for technological solutions from bench tests to the introduction of technology in the field. The described technology allowed the Company to find a solution to work with the Y-Tool bypass system in the production wells of the Prirazlomnoye field.

Method of formation of loading cycles for performing forced bench tests of suspension elements at the stage of technical design

Ensuring the required vehicle service life is one of the most important and topical global engineering challenges. Automobile manufacturers and research engineers around the world are actively working to improve safety and durability testing methods of vehicles, their components and systems. This article touches upon the main issues of comparing the modes of vehicle road operation and the method of forming an adequate program for extreme testing of suspension elements. The developed method has been actively applied in FSUE “NAMI” in the field of research on durability of vehicle components and systems, in particular, of hub units, with the use of mathematical modeling tools and the test base capacities and capabilities.