In order to observe the formation and measure the water film thickness of a rubber-supported water lubricated tilting pad thrust bearing, a test rig has been developed. The thrust collar is made of quartz glass, and fluorescent substance rhodamine was added to the lubricating water. A xenon lamp was used to excite rhodamine to emit fluorescence. A high-speed camera was applied to record the variation of fluorescence intensity on the thrust pad surface with rotational speed. The water film thickness at different positions on the thrust pad surface was obtained by comparing the fluorescence intensity with that at known film thickness which had been calibrated beforehand. The measured film thickness was compared with the calculated one. The results show that this measuring method can well observe the contact and lubrication state of the tested bearing, and the calculated water film thickness is in good agreement with the measured value. This method provides a new idea for the study of the lubrication film formation of water lubricated thrust bearings. However, the measurement accuracy needs to be improved.
A method for measuring film thickness of water lubricated tilting pad thrust bearings
2019-07-01
251702 byte
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch