2013 STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition

May 5-9, 2013

Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center
Detroit, Michigan, USA

FUNCTIONAL TESTING OF PVD COATINGS ON WAVE BEARINGS FOR HEAVY

LOAD APPLICATIONS
TRACK OR CATEGORY
Fluid film bearings

AUTHORS AND INSTITUTIONS

Florin Dimofte, The University of Toledo, OH, USA
Nicoleta M. Ene, The University of Toledo, OH, USA

INTRODUCTION
The high requirements of the new aerospace transmissions (high power density, heavy loads, low mass,
high efficiency, increased maintenance intervals, the capacity to operate with marginal lubrication) have
led to the development of a new type of oil lubricated bearings called wave bearing. Replacing the rolling
element bearings, traditionally used in aerospace transmissions, with wave bearings can make the
transmission smaller, lighter, and less noisy. To help the oil lubricated wave bearing to overcome
marginal lubrication at start and stop or oil-off situations, physical vapor deposition (PVD) coatings were
applied on the active surfaces of the bearing. Wave bearings with two different PVD coatings -Titanium
Carbide (TiC) and Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) were functionally tested in a real fluid film environment.
The tests demonstrated that: i) a coated bearing can overcome 1,000 start-stop cycles without any
damage and ii) a coated bearing can run without oil supply up to 100 cumulative hours. The functional
testing conditions were: rotational speed - 4,000 RPM and load - 1780 N (400 lbs). The test bearing has a
diameter of a 45 mm and a length of 22 mm. Synthetic turbine oil with a viscosity of 5 cSt at 100°C that
meets the specification of MIL-L-23699 was used as lubricant.

TEST RIG
A cross section of the rig that was used for coatings functional tests is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 Test rig configuration

 The rig shaft is driven by a turbine and is supported by ball bearings at both of its ends. The test bearing
rotor is fixed on the shaft, but it can be removed when the test bearing is changed. The test sleeve is
mounted in a load ring. The motion of the bearing rotor is monitored with proximity probes mounted in
horizontal and vertical directions at both left and right side planes. The bearing is loaded to 1780 N
through the radial loader and the load ring. The oil inlet and outlet temperatures are measured with
thermocouples. The oil pressure and flow are also measured. More details about the tests and the test rig
can be found in [1, 2].

TEST PROCEDURE
Two types of tests were performed: start-stop tests and oil-off tests.
In the start-stop test, the bearing is first run from 0 to 4,000 RPM speed. The bearing is stopped after 2
minutes of running. The bearing is started again after 1 minute. A load of 1780 N is applied almost
instantaneously when the rotor starts spinning. The load is released after the rotor stops. The oil supply
pressure is 0.55 MPa. The oil supply is interrupted 10 seconds before starting and is re-established 10
seconds after the start. The same procedure is applied at the bearing stop. This test was configured to
simulate the bearing conditions when engine/transmission starts to idle and when stops from idling. 1,000
start-stop cycles were performed for each test bearing.
The oil-off test was performed in two steps. First it was checked if the bearings can run 40 minutes
under oil-off conditions (aerospace industry requires 30 minutes run without oil supply). Then, it was
investigated how long the bearings can run without oil supply. The investigation was stopped after 100
accumulated hours of running. In the oil-off test, the rig shaft is first rotated at 4,000 RPM and the
bearing is loaded with 1780 N. The bearing is supplied with oil at 0.55 MPa. Then, the oil supply is
interrupted (oil-off). The rig is stopped after 40 minutes and the bearing parts are inspected. If the bearing
parts are in good condition then the oil-off test is resumed following the same procedure. Then the rig is
let to run for 8 hours or until the increased friction in the bearing stops the rig. The oil-off test is resumed
next day if the bearing survived in the previous day for 8 hours without oil supply. The total time of
running without oil supply is measured. The investigation was stopped after 100 cumulative hours of
running. It must be noted that the bearings were tested under oil-off conditions after they passed the
1,000 start-stop cycle test.

TEST RESULTS
All coated bearings successfully passed the 1,000 start-stop cycle test. The results of the oil-off test can
be seen in Table 1.

Table 1: The results of the oil-off tests

No. Coating 40 minute oil-off test Oil-off test after the 40 minute oil-off test
Restarted with oil and ran daily 8 hours without oil;
1 TiC Passed
over 100 cumulative hours;
2 TiC Passed 8.3 hours; damaged at reassembly
Restarted with oil and ran daily 8 hours without oil;
3 TiC Passed
over 1000 cumulative hours
Restarted with oil and ran daily 8 hours without oil;
4 DLC Passed
over 100 cumulative hours;
5 DLC Passed 1.2 hours; damaged at reassembly
Restarted with oil and ran daily 8 hours without oil,
6 DLC Passed
over 100 cumulative hours;

The visual inspection after all the tests were completed shown that the active surfaces of the bearings are
not damaged. For example, the sleeve and the rotor of one of the test bearings after all the tests were
completed are presented in Figs. 2 a) and b). Only polished spots or polished circular tracks can be seen
in Figs. 2 a) and b). The profiles of the bearing sleeves were also inspected before and after the tests. No
alterations of the profile were observed during the tests. For example, the profile of one of the test bearing
sleeves before and after the tests are shown Figs. 3a) and b).
 a) b)
Fig. 2 The sleeve (a) and the rotor (b) of one of the tested bearings after all the tests were completed

a) b)
Fig. 3 The profile of one of the test bearing sleeve before (a) and after the tests (b)

CONCLUDING REMARKS
The functional tests of bearings with TiC and DLC coatings showed that these coatings can provide an
excellent protection at start-stop and oil-off situations under the testing conditions. The bearings can run
over 100 cumulative hours without oil supply under a radial load of 1,780 N and at a rotational speed of
4,000 RPM. These tests also showed that the coating properties are consistent; all tested bearings
passed the start-stop tests and continually ran without oil supply over 30 minutes (the aerospace industry
request).

REFERENCES
[1] Dimofte, F., Proctor, M, P., Fleming, D, P., and Keith, T, G, Jr., (2000), “Wave Fluid Film Bearing Tests for
th
an Aviation Gearbox,” Proceedings of the 8 International Symposium on Transport Phenomena and
Dynamics of Rotating Machinery, ISROMAC- 8, Honolulu, Hawaii, March 26-30, (2000), NASA/TM-2000-
209766, January (2000).
[2] Dimofte, F., Handschuh, R.F., Long-Davis, M.J., and DeTardo, C.J., (2005), “ Test of PVD Coatings in the
th
Wave Bearing Environment; Part I and Part II,” Proceedings of the 5 International Conference “The
Coatings”, Kallithea of Chaldikidiki, Greece, 5-7 October 2005, pp. 197-213

KEYWORDS
Hydrodynamics: Starvation in Hydrodynamics, Surfaces: Coatings, Friction-Reducing, Surfaces:
Coatings, Wear-Resistant.