DESCRIPTION

Technical Description

The field of tribology covers all forms of friction. Dry, mixed and fluid friction all occur in journal bearings. Under operating conditions there is completely distinct fluid friction, so that the shaft and bearing shell are separated by a supporting lubricating film. The supporting function of the lubricating film can be described by the pressure distribution in the bearing gap.

The experimental unit is used to visualise the radial pressure profile in the journal bearing with hydrodynamic lubrication. The TM 260 base module is required to operate TM 260.06. 

There are 13 measuring points around the circumference of the bearing shell to measure the pressure. The pressures are read off from 13 tube manometers using the height of each column of liquid. Unlike real hydrodynamic journal bearings, the gap width can be adjusted via the radially moveable bearing housing by means of a micrometer screw. The lubricant is supplied via an oil pan.

The well-structured instructional material sets out the fundamentals and provides a step-by-step guide through the experiments.

Learning Objectives / Experiments

- pressure distribution in the journal bearing depending on speed
- pressure distribution in the journal bearing depending on load or bearing gap width
- stability limit as a function of the gap width