As part of the Pratt and Whitney Division of United Technologies Space Shuttle Main Engine Alternative Turbopump Development program, the United Technologies Research Center is developing advanced Acoustic Emission (AE) monitoring methods to provide a diagnostic capability for ball and roller bearings. The program goal is the development of AE sensors, data acquisition hardware, and analysis techniques that can be used to assess the health of a bearing during the operation of the High Pressure Fuel Turbopump and the High Pressure Oxygen Turbopump. The high frequency content of the AE signal provides immunity from the structural and rotordynamic vibration noise, thereby, focusing the diagnostic assessment on local bearing condition. This paper presents the preliminary results from six tests of different roller bearing designs in a rig which simulated the speed, load, and temperature environment encountered in the turbopumps. A unique transducer and digital data system were used to obtain AE signatures during operation of the bearing rig. The signal obtained from normal roller bearing operation consisted of a series of bursts of AE occurring at the roller pass frequency. These were attributed to the individual roller elements passing the transducer location. Correlations of bearing clearances, applied loads, rotation speeds, and roller element stability with the AE signal structure were observed.
Acoustic emission monitoring of SSME-ATD roller bearings
Schallemissionsueberwachung der Gleitlager von alternierenden Turbopumpen
AIAA-Papers ; Jul ; 1-8
1989
8 Seiten, 15 Bilder, 5 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Acoustic emission monitoring of SSME-ATD roller bearings
AIAA | 1989
|AIAA | 1989
|AIAA | 1989
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