OPTIMIZATION OF TRIBOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF AN EPOXY HYBRID POLYMER COMPOSITE REINFORCED WITH ZrB2 AND PTFE PARTICLES USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY FOR HIGH-TEMPERATURE TRIBOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS

Hybrid PTFE/epoxy composites are widely used as materials for self-lubricating spherical bearing which are used in a high-temperature environment. In the present work, zirconium diboride (ZrB2) particles are incorporated to enhance high-temperature tribological properties of PTFE/epoxy composites. Pin on disc experiment is conducted with the aid of design of experiments (DOE) using central composite-response surface methodology (RSM). Under a load of 40 N and 1.25 m/s sliding speed, the optimum content 5.95 vol% of PTFE and 5.05 vol% of ZrB2, yields an ultralow coefficient of friction (COF) in conjunction with a low wear rate of the composite. The addition of ultra-high-temperature ceramic ZrB2 particles and solid lubricant PTFE is found to enhance the thermal conductivity and improve the heat transfer thereby reducing contact temperature. The use of optimum composition of the composite is capable of reducing the wear rate and high local temperature due to friction, implying its potential use as a self-lubricating spherical bearing liner material.

High-efficiency nano polishing of steel materials

The application of a specific rheological polishing slurry is proposed first for high-efficiency machining of steel materials to achieve high-quality ultraprecision finished surfaces. The rheology of the polishing slurry was explored to show that the non-Newtonian medium with certain parameters of content components exhibits shear-thickening behavior. Then the new high-efficiency nano polishing approach is applied to process spherical surfaces of bearing steel. Several controllable parameters such as shear rheology, abrasive data, rotational speed, and processing time are experimentally investigated in this polishing process. A special finding is that the surface roughness and material removal rate can increase simultaneously when a small abrasive size is applied due to the thickening mechanism during the shearing flow of slurries. Excessive abrasives can decrease surface quality due to the uneven agglomeration of particles scratching the surface. Under optimized conditions, a high-accuracy spherical bearing steel surface with a roughness of 12.6 nm and roundness of 5.3 μm was achieved after a processing time of 2.5 h. Thus, a potential ultraprecision machining method for target materials is obtained in this study.

Implementation of a Load Sensitizing Bridge Spherical Bearing Based on Low-Coherent Fiber-Optic Sensors Combined with Neural Network Algorithms

Low-coherent fiber-optic sensors combined with neural network algorithms were designed to carry out a load-sensitizing spherical bearing. Four sensing fibers were wound around the outside of the pot support of the spherical bearing uniformly deployed from upper to bottom. The upper three were configured in a distributed way to respond to the applied load as a function of the three strain sensors. The bottom one was employed as a temperature compensation sensor. A loading experiment was implemented to test the performance of the designed system. The results showed that there was a hysteresis in all the three sensors between loading and unloading process. The neural network algorithm is proposed to set up a function of the three sensors, treated as a set of input vectors to establish the input-output relationship between the applied loads and the constructed input vectors, in order to overcome the hysteresis existing in each sensor. An accuracy of 6% for load sensing was approached after temperature compensation.

Numerical analysis of the spherical bearing geometric configuration with antifriction layer made of different materials

Requirements to critical elements of transport and logistics systems have been increased due urbanization in the territories of Russia and the world. Bridge bearings, which perceive the vertical and horizontal loads from the bridge span, as well as absorb thermal expansion and contraction, shrinkage, seismic disturbances, etc. refer to such elements. Requirements to strength, durability, wear resistance, operation maintenance-free periods, etc., imposed on the bridge bearing are increasing due to a stable growth of loads on the bridge elements and increase in vehicle fleets. Recently, international and Russian companies have been engaged in development of new polymeric and composite materials, which have improved physical and mechanical, frictional, thermo-mechanical and rheological properties and can be used as a thin layer of sliding bearings bridges. A number of problems are outlined in studying material properties and geometric configuration of bridge bearings in order to rationalize the work of its structure. Three topical problems of solid mechanics are reviewed in the work. This is the identification of qualitative and quantitative patterns of the deformation behavior of modern antifriction polymer and composite materials as relatively thin sliding layers of bridge spherical bearings in order to formulate scientifically grounded recommendations for the selection of the interlayer material regarding the study unit operation. This is an analysis of the influence of the sliding layer material physical and mechanical, frictional, thermomechanical and rheological properties on the structure deformation as a whole and the change in the contact zone parameters, in particular. It is an analysis of the influence of the sliding layer geometric configuration on the structure performance. A significant decrease in the area of full adhesions of the contact surfaces, including up to 0, and the occurrence or increase in the area of the divergence of the contact surfaces (no contact) is observed during frictional contact taking into account the lubrication on the mating surfaces. The surface percentage on which the contact surfaces divergence (no contact) is observed decreases, on average by more than 2 times, if the sliding layer thickness is increased.

Experimental Examination of Adhesive Bonded Carbon Fibre Tube to Aluminum Alloy AW 7075

Carbon fibre products are getting to be common today for its high strength and lightweight, thus it is desirable to feasible its quality within the race car design as much as possible. This paper focuses on usage of carbon fibre tubes (20x2) for suspension links connecting an upright with chassis of a race car. The end of each link is bonded to an aluminum holder housing a spherical bearing. Thus there risen a question about quality and durability of such joint. Hence number of tests (tensile, compressive, torsion) were performed using various glues (Scotch-Weld 490 3M and Tech-Lit 2KE) and surface finishes of glued surface to see the influence of each individual aspect. The most important was tensile test and best result reached combination of Scotch-Weld 490 3M and smooth glued surface. Best result of tensile test with Tech-Lit 2KE reached combination with knurled glued surface. Other tests, compresive and torsion, were additional to this research.