Efficient transmissions systems are key to producing competitive motor vehicles that have a smaller environmental impact. Gears are the main components in vehicle transmissions and although they are already highly efficient, there is still room for improvement. In this study, the focus falls on the lubricant used to create separating films between gears and todissipate heat. When driving, the gears churn this lubricant, giving rise to power losses that are related to the amount and properties of the lubricant. However, any attempt to reduce these losses must not compromise the required lubrication and heat dissipation. Paper A reports on the use of an FZG gear test rig to investigate power losses and heat generation for different gear immersion depths, surface roughness and coatings. The results show that lower gear roughness reduces gear mesh losses and heat generation. A polishing affect was obtained when a non-coated gear ran against a coated gear.The aim of the research reported in paper B was to increase the accuracy of efficiency testing. It investigated how and whether repeated disassembly and re-assembly of the same test equipment, as well as test performance and rig conditions, affect the measured torque loss in an FZG gear test rig. It was shown that the measured torque loss changes between one assembly and another. Repeatability between tests is crucial for accurate conclusions.The aim of the research reported in paper C was to study whether gear efficiency could be increased by a running-in procedure, which would reduce the need for a coolant. A back-to-back gear test rig was used to test two running-in loads. Higher gear mesh efficiency was seen when a higher running-in load was used. / <p>QC 20141006</p>

Requirements today for machines have moved beyond functionality intoefficiency and reliability, gears are no exception. The presented work focuseson the analysis of the measurement, evolution and effect of running-in on geardrives from a surface roughness and efficiency point of view. With no consen-sus on a definition or observation of running-in of gear drives, measurementsof both efficiency and surface transformation during the predefined running-inis explored. A verified methodology on how to separate form, waviness androughness is presented. Two finishing methods, namely generation groundand superfinished, are analyzed in terms of efficiency and surface characteris-tics as manufactured, after running-in and after efficiency testing in order todetermine the effects of load level during running-in.Results show that separation of form can be achieved with a carefullychosen polynomial, while waviness is more subject to how the user definesa cut-off wavelength for the surface roughness. Ground gears show distinctsmoothening in terms of surface roughness at high running-in load, and nogeneral trend for low load. This behavior is also reflected in the efficiencysince higher loads gave overall lower efficiency after running-in when com-pared to lower loads. Superfinished gears in contrast show no running-in ef-fects in terms of efficiency. Additionally, ground gears exhibit general changein friction and surface roughness during the first cycles of running-in whenanalyzing high load. Overall gains in efficiency can be obtained from running-in; however, at most speeds improvements from polishing a surface, in thiscase superfinishing, proved to lead to higher efficiency. / <p>QC 20150922</p>

A common choice of bearing for industrial applications such as turbomachinery and rotating compressors is the Tilting-Pad Journal Bearing (TPJB) due to its excellent stability properties. TPJB's are however limited by the reduction of damping in the fluid film at high velocities. In order to overcome this, the Active Tilting-Pad Journal Bearing (ATPJB) has been developed. By adding the possibility of high-pressure radial oil injection through servo-valves which can be controlled via a feedback-loop control system, the classically purely mechanical TPJB becomes a mechatronic device called ATPJB.  The objective of this project is to conduct an experimental evaluation of the dynamical behavior of the ATPJB test rig located at the Technical University of Denmark, use the experimental results to modify the previously developed dynamical model which is used for the calculation of a model-based control system. The control system is to be implemented and experimentally validated at high velocities. Improvements made to the test rig in order to achieve high velocities have been documented and described in this work. The mathematical modeling of the individual components, reduction methods, and the global system assembly is covered with an extensive overview. Parameters of the model have been made frequency dependant in order to have an accurate model, resulting in good agreement with experimental data over a wider operational range. With the implemented Linear Quadratic Gaussian controller it is shown that ATPJB has extended operational range compared to TPJB and shows reduction of vibrations over rotational speeds spanning from 1000 RPM to 10,000 RPM. The ATPJB-technology, as it is implemented in this project, does not improve frictional losses in the system. It is argued that the added sensing and actuating systems inherited in the ATPJB technology make the technology highly suitable for the ideas of Industry 4.0 and also allows for the implementation of Early Fault Diagnosis which gives an economical incitement to invest in ATPJB-technology.

This report covers the work and results of the thesis project in Mechanical Engineering from Luleå university of technology performed by Niklas Ydebäck. The objective of the thesis project is to research if it is possible, with general principles of fluid flow between components and the corresponding geometric constraints between them and just a few channels of data, to model the leakage of a radial piston hydraulic motor. The model is of the grey box kind which makes use of both numerical and statistical methods together with known physical properties of a system in order to model the system. The unknown parameters of this system that are estimated using the least squares method are the three different gap heights of the system as well as the two different eccentricities in the system. The model contains the physical properties of the system, stated in equations for the leakage in the relevant lubrication interfaces, but no relational properties for the dynamics and affects between the individual lubricating interfaces. The model developed is due to the model generality together with the data quality accessible not able to model the system with reliable quality. The model is however able to capture the general trend of the leakage in the system over the applied time series datasets. / Den här rapporten presenterar arbetsgången och resultatet av examensarbetet för en civilingenjörsexamen i Maskinteknik från Luleå tekniska universitet utförd av Niklas Ydebäck. Målet med examensarbetet är att utvärdera och undersöka om det är möjligt, med generella och vedertagna principer av fluidflöde mellan smorda komponenter tillsammans med de geometriska begränsningarna som hör dem till och några få kanaler av data, att modellera läckaget för en radialkolvsmotor. Modellen är en grålådemodell som med hjälp av numeriska och statistiska metoder och kända fysikaliska principer av ett system bildar en modell av systemet. De okända parametrarna av systemet som estimeras med hjälp av minsta kvadrat metoden är de tre olika typerna av spalthöjderna och de två olika eccentricitetstyperna som finns i systemets smorda kontakter. Modellen består av de fysikaliska egenskaperna i systemet, formerade i ekvationer för läckaget i de relevanta smorda kontakterna, men inga relationella egenskaper för dynamiken och effekterna mellan de olika smorda kontakterna. Den utvecklade modellen är på grund av den generella karaktären av modellen tillsammans med kvaliteten på den data som finns tillgänglig inte möjlig att modellera läckaget i systemet med tillräcklig noggrannhet. Modellen är trots detta kapabel att fånga de generella trender som återfinns i den uppmätta datan på läckaget för de applicerade dataseten.

With the increasing restrictions in emission legislations, the automotive industry aims to improve the efficiency of the lubricating system and to decrease fuel consumption. In the power cylinder unit (PCU), the piston rings are the major contributor to these consumptions. Hence, focus on the dynamic behaviour of the rings to reduce lube oil consumption (LOC) becomes a key factor in thriving towards sustainability. Several studies have been conducted on the piston ring-pack specifically using a 2D ring dynamics approach. This study focuses on developing a 3D ring dynamics model, in the software tool AVL EXCITE™ Piston&amp;Rings, which is capable of observing the behaviour of the ring along the third dimension i.e. circumferential direction. A coordinated approach used in the methodology gives an insight into the parameters affecting the model behaviour. Within the PCU, wear on the cylinder liner surface and in the piston ring grooves can lead to accelerated LOC. This study further focuses on using the 3D model to analyse the friction and wear on the piston rings. Factors contributing towards LOC are individually studied and the results obtained are compared to the experimental engine test data. The outcome of the 3D numerical model developed shows promising results. The model can therefore be used to simulate different piston ring-packs and analyse the behaviour of the piston ring with a better prediction of friction, wear and LOC. Thus, the model will contribute to reducing the number of physical tests conducted, the expense involved in conducting those tests and would provide satisfactory products to the customer and would manage future emission requirements.

Over the last decade, the application of ultra-high strength steel as safety components and structural reinforcements in automobile applications has increased due to their favourable high-strength-to-weight ratio. The complex shaped components are widely produced using hot stamping. However, this process encounters problems such as galling and increased wear of the tools due to harsh operating conditions associated to the elevated temperatures. Moreover, quenching is a critical step that affects the hot formed components. Slow cooling rates results in inhomogeneous mechanical properties and increased cycle time. Therefore, fast and homogeneous quenching of the formed components in combination with reduction of wear rates during hot forming are important targets to ensure the quality and efficiency of the process. The use of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies opens up potential solutions for novel tooling concepts. The manufacturing of complex shape cooling channels and integration of high-performance alloys at the surface could benefit the tribological performance in the forming operation. However, the research into high temperature tribological behaviour of AM materials in hot forming applications is very limited. The aim of this work is to study the tribological performance of additively manufactured materials. Two steels were used – a maraging steel and modified H13 tool steel. The hot work tool steel H13 is commonly applied for dies in metal forming processes. In this thesis it was used to study additive manufacturing as the processing route instead of conventional casting. The choice of a maraging steel is motivated by a possible application of high-performance alloys as a top layer on dies. The materials were post-machined and studied in milled, ground and shot-blasted conditions. The different post-machining operations were applied to study the effect of surface finish on the tribological behaviour and also to evaluate different methods of post-machining an AM surface. As fabricated dies are usually manufactured with milled surface. During its use, the dies undergo refurbishment after certain number of cycles and the surface condition is changed to a ground surface. These surface finishes are commonly tested for hot forming applications. The shot blasted operation was chosen as alternative surface finish. The process allows to prepare large sized tools easily and the surface has beneficial compressive stresses. The tribological behaviour of AM steels was studied using a hot strip drawing tribometer during sliding against a conventional Al-Si coated 22MnB5 steel. The workpiece temperature during the tests was 600 and 700°C. The results of the tribological performance of AM materials were compared to conventionally cast tool steel QRO90.The results have shown that the friction behaviour of both maraging and H13 steels at 600°C was stable and similar whereas at 700°C the COF was more unstable and resulted in an earlier failure of the tests due to increased material transfer of Al-Si coating from the workpiece surface.The main wear mechanisms for AM materials were galling and abrasion at both temperatures. Abrasion is more severe for the AM steels in comparison to cast tool steel QRO90. The galling formation on milled and ground surfaces showed similar behaviour to cast steel and it increased with higher workpiece temperatures. The shot-blasted surfaces showed less build-up of transferred material on the surface but folding of asperities and entrapment of Al-Si particles within surface defects generated during shot-blasting.

Laserpåsvetsning och laserytimpregnering är additiva tillverkningsmetoder som kan användas för att förlängakomponenters livslängd och specialanpassa ytor med avseende på friktions-, slitage- och korrosionsegenskaper.Duroc Laser Coating i Luleå är störst i Sverige på laserytbehandlingar men saknar objektiv data på friktionsoch nötningsegenskaperna hos de laserpåsvetsade materialen vilket har varit det huvudsakliga målet med dettaarbete att ta fram.Tolv material, varav tre referensstål för jämförelse, har testats enligt en något modifierad ASTM G132 standard avseende tvåkroppsabrasion. Resultaten visade att det abrasiva nötningsmotståndet ökade med ökandehårdhet. Tre material med karbidpartiklar i ytskiktet uppvisade överlägset högst nötningsmotstånd. Ytornahar undersökts med svepelektronmikroskop och ytprofileringsmätningar efter testerna för att karakterisera debakomliggande nötningsmekanismerna.Materialens mikrostruktur, hårdhet och deformationshärdning närmast ytan efter abrasiv nötningsprovninghar undersökts. De mjukaste materialens mikrostruktur hade deformerats i glidriktningen medans resterandematerials mikrostruktur var opåverkad. Koboltlegeringarna uppvisade högst deformationshärdning.Åtta material, varav två referensstål, har testats enligt ASTM G99 i en pin-on-disk uppställning för att undersöka adhesivt nötningsmotstånd och friktionsegenskaper med lagerstål som mötande material. Resultatenvisade att de tre koboltbaserade legeringarna som testades hade lägst och stabilast friktion med minst materialöverföring, medans ett brons som testades hade högst friktion och materialöverföring. Ett rostfritt stål hadelägst nötning.Målen med arbetet har uppnåtts och den tribologiska prestandan har kartlagts för de material som ingått iarbetet. Metodiken som tagits fram under arbetets gång kan även användas för att göra ytterligare materialkarakterisering i framtiden.

This study aims to develop coatings which show wear resistant behaviour along with multiple functions such as improved ice adhesion, better freezing delay etc which help in improving the effectiveness of the wind turbine efficiency. The significance of anti-icing/de-icing solutions for wind turbines is emphasized since ice accretion can cause serious issues in generation of power and might lead to damage of blades. The use of active and passive anti-icing/de-icing technologies in wind turbine blade applications is reviewed. The discrepancy between passive anti-icing, which depends on surface treatment, coatings, de-icing fluids and active anti-icing, which uses heating devices, sensors such as actuators, transducers, is explored along with the current challenges in industry. In this study we’ve developed interesting methods for improving the anti-icing/de-icing capabilities of wind turbine blades by using gelcoat coatings in which are filler particles (boron nitride and graphene) and oils (vegetable and paraffin oil) are incorporated. Evaluating the impacts of type of fillers, oils, their concentrations on anti-icing efficacy, as well as the prospects for this technique to enhance wind energy production's reliability and productivity will be explored. In summary, this study aims to develop multi-functional polymer coatings for anti-icing/de-icing application in wind turbine blades. The coatings with boron-nitride and graphene showed an increase in the surface roughness and contact angles, while there’s no change in the chemical composition in comparison with pure gelcoat. The thermal conductivity of the coatings was increased with addition of fillers. For the wear test, the operating parameters chosen are a load of 5N and 1Hz frequency of slider, which is run for a duration of 10 min. The COF for both the coatings is lesser than baseline coatings whereas graphene provided better wear resistance. The hardness was increased for boron-nitride coatings and it remained almost same for graphene coatings. The ice adhesion strength, freezing delay and thermal analysis (TGA) for these coatings showed better performance than pure gelcoat. Whereas for coatings with vegetable and paraffin oils, the contact angles were increased and surface roughness was increased in case of paraffin oil coatings whereas it reduced for vegetable oil coatings. Both the coatings offered better wear resistance and reduced COF, whereas the hardness was reduced. The ice adhesion strength and freezing delay improved drastically and are much better than both pure gelcoat as well as coatings with boron-nitride and graphene. There is slight increase in the glass transition temperature than pure gelcoat coating.

Without lubrication, machines are not imaginable to perform over a long period of time and complete their designated operations. With its omnipresent availability, the air is capable of functioning as a lubricant in long operations very efficiently. Moreover, thrust bearings support axial loads and transmit power at the same time under heavy loads. Therefore, to provide separation under heavy loads in lubricated rotating devices such as thrust pad bearings keeping the power losses at a minimum, film thickness and pressure distribution are very important to investigate at the bearing interfaces. Thrust pad gas (air) bearings are being used in very high-speed rotating machines. Usages of these air bearings are increasing nowadays in industries. In this thesis project, simulations of lubricated contacts of a thrust pad air bearing are performed utilizing multiphysics phenomena and surface textures as mathematical functions. Structural mechanics and fluid mechanics physics are used to model multiphysics functionality. Ideal surface texture models defined by mathematical functions are utilized. More efficient techniques such as homogenization techniques to model the influences of surface roughness are introduced for multiscale study. The current work also presents the Reynolds equation for incompressible and iso-viscous Newtonian fluid flow and formulation for a stationary study. The air bearing with three pads is presented and a virtual twin of this model is built for simulation in COMSOL Multiphysics software. Simulation results are obtained using a single pad from the air bearing considering periodicity of the mathematical formulation. Numerical solutions for pressure build-up and film thickness distributions are achieved from a stationary study performed in COMSOL Multiphysics. MATLAB is used for rigid body solutions. Numerical verification is carried out between the rigid body solutions from MATLAB and fluid physics solutions from COMSOL Multiphysics only for the simulations with tilting pad configuration. Obtained rigid body solutions are also compared to the trends of thrust pad bearing design diagrams to verify the modelling approach and the results. A tilting pad lubricating configuration is used for the thrust pad bearing first. Then pocket geometries for optimization of the bearing pads are explored. For that purpose, separate digital models of the bearing pad are built in COMSOL and analysed for the best performances. Material properties of steel AISI 4340 and Polylactic Acid (PLA) material are used to model virtual bearing pads. To understand the performance of the bearing better, its performance parameters such as load carrying capacity (LCC), relative power loss, and coefficient of friction torque (COT) solutions from the simulations of lubricated contacts of the thrust pad air bearing are analysed. To characterize the performance of the bearing, dimensionless LCC, relative power loss, and COT are explicitly formulated and computed from the pressure and film thickness solutions obtained in the simulations. Relative power loss and COT are resulted from the development of shear stresses in the lubricating fluid due to motion. Parametric analysis is also performed for these parameters in COMSOL Multiphysics. Additionally, performances of several pocket geometry design configurations are also analysed for the best values reached such as the maximum LCC. Pockets with shallower depths are found to have provided higher LCC in general than deeper pocket geometries and plane pads with tilting pad lubricating configuration. Finally, a physical model of an air thrust pad bearing with 3D-printed bearing segments made of PLA material is tested. The physical bearing performed very well in achieving full film separation in the test.

During tightening of a screw, the variation in friction will affect the force acting on the joint, especially when tightening using torque as a control parameter. So, it is crucial to have a proper understanding of the contact mechanism and friction in the screw head to joint and thread interfaces. This will make it possible to develop tightening strategies that compensate for the friction variation to assure a better quality of the joint. This understating could be achieved through conducting experiments using a pin on disc tribometer. In the present study, the frictional behavior of three different coatings has been investigated using a tribometer. The study comprises both the experimental and numerical procedures. Experimental tests have been conducted to find the required material inputs for numerical modeling, and also, to log the results required for validation of the simulation results. The Central Composite Design (CCD) method has been employed for the design of experiments where the normal pressure and sliding velocity have been selected as the test parameters (design factors). For the numerical part of the study, the localized finite element model of the contact region of the pin and coated disc has been made in ANSYS. The model represents a portion of the test specimen used in the tribometer so that a high level of refinement could be applied. Two different approaches have been implemented in ANSYS to model the friction coefficient as a function of normal pressure and sliding velocity. The both approaches are based on a mathematical model for friction coefficient which has nine constants that could be determined using the experimental tests’ results. Also, a correction scheme for the contact stiffness has been implemented so that the mesh dependency of the model could be reduced significantly. Finally, the results of the numerical modeling have been compared with those obtained from experiments for friction force. The comparison shows a good agreement between them, proving the accuracy of the utilized numerical model and the correction scheme employed. / Vid åtdragning av en skruv kommer variationen i friktion att påverka kraften som verkar på fogen, speciellt vid åtdragning med vridmoment som styrparameter. Så det är avgörande att ha en ordentlig underskattning av kontaktmekanismen och friktionen i skruvhuvudet till skarvar och gänggränssnitt. Detta kommer att göra det möjligt att utveckla åtdragningsstrategier som kompenserar för friktionsvariationen för att säkerställa en bättre kvalitet på fogen. Denna underskattning kan uppnås genom att utföra experiment med en stift på skivtribometer. I föreliggande studie har friktionsbeteendet hos tre olika beläggningar undersökts med hjälp av en tribometer. Studien omfattar både de experimentella och numeriska procedurerna. Experimentella tester har genomförts för att hitta nödvändiga materialingångar för numerisk modellering, och även för att logga de resultat som krävs för validering av simuleringsresultaten. Central Composite Design (CCD) metod har använts för design av experiment där det normala trycket och glidhastigheten har valts som testparametrar (designfaktorer). För den numeriska delen av studien har den lokaliserade finita elementmodellen av kontaktområdet för stiftet och den belagda skivan gjorts i ANSYS. Modellen representerar en del av testexemplaret som används i tribometern så att en hög nivå av förfining kunde tillämpas. Två olika tillvägagångssätt har implementerats i ANSYS för att modellera friktionskoefficienten som en funktion av normalt tryck och glidhastighet. Båda tillvägagångssätten är baserade på en matematisk modell för friktionskoefficient som har nio konstanter som kan bestämmas med hjälp av de experimentella testernas resultat. Dessutom har ett korrigeringsschema för kontaktstyvheten implementerats så att modellens meshberoende kan reduceras avsevärt. Slutligen har resultaten av den numeriska modelleringen jämförts med de som erhållits från experiment för friktionskraft. Jämförelsen visar en god överensstämmelse mellan dem, vilket bevisar noggrannheten hos den använda numeriska modellen och det använda korrigeringsschemat.