Current Status of Hybrid Bearing Damage Detection
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NASA/TM—2004-212882 ARL–TR–3119 U.S. ARMY RESEARCH LABORATORY Current Status of Hybrid Bearing Damage Detection Paula J. Dempsey Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio Joseph M. Certo U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio Wilfredo Morales Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio June 2004 The NASA STI Program Office . in Profile Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated to • CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. Collected the advancement of aeronautics and space papers from scientific and technical science. The NASA Scientific and Technical conferences, symposia, seminars, or other Information (STI) Program Office plays a key part meetings sponsored or cosponsored by in helping NASA maintain this important role. NASA. The NASA STI Program Office is operated by • SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientific, Langley Research Center, the Lead Center for technical, or historical information from NASA’s scientific and technical information. 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Certo U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio Wilfredo Morales Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio Prepared for the 2004 Annual Meeting and Exhibition sponsored by the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Toronto, Canada, May 17–20, 2004 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Glenn Research Center June 2004 Available from NASA Center for Aerospace Information National Technical Information Service 7121 Standard Drive 5285 Port Royal Road Hanover, MD 21076 Springfield, VA 22100 Available electronically at http://gltrs.grc.nasa.gov Current Status of Hybrid Bearing Damage Detection Paula J. Dempsey National Aeronautics and Space Administration Glenn Research Center Cleveland, Ohio 44135 E-mail: [email protected] Joseph M. Certo U.S. Army Research Laboratory National Aeronautics and Space Administration Glenn Research Center Cleveland, Ohio 44135 E-mail: [email protected] Wilfredo Morales National Aeronautics and Space Administration Glenn Research Center Cleveland, Ohio 44135 E-mail: [email protected] Summary Advances in material development and processing have led to the introduction of ceramic hybrid bearings for many applications. The introduction of silicon nitride hybrid bearings into the high pressure oxidizer turbopump, on the space shuttle main engine, led NASA to solve a highly persistent and troublesome bearing problem. Hybrid bearings consist of ceramic balls and steel races. The majority of hybrid bearings utilize Si3N4 balls. The aerospace industry is currently studying the use of hybrid bearings and naturally the failure modes of these bearings become an issue in light of the limited data available. In today’s turbine engines and helicopter transmissions, the health of the bearings is detected by the properties of the debris found in the lubrication line when damage begins to occur. Current oil debris sensor technology relies on the magnetic properties of the debris to detect damage. Since the ceramic rolling elements of hybrid bearings have no metallic properties, a new sensing system must be developed to indicate the system health if ceramic components are to be safely implemented in aerospace applications. The ceramic oil debris sensor must be capable of detecting ceramic and metallic component damage with sufficient reliability and forewarning to prevent a catastrophic failure. The objective of this research is to provide a background summary on what is currently known about hybrid bearing failure modes and to report preliminary results on the detection of silicon nitride debris, in oil, using a commercial particle counter. Introduction As NASA’s lead center for aerospace propulsion and power, Glenn Research Center develops critical technologies for all aspects of advanced turbomachinery, including advanced health maintenance for propulsion systems. The Mechanical Components Branch at Glenn performs research for health monitoring and diagnostics of drive systems and aircraft engines. Rolling element bearings are critical components in rotating machinery. Silicon nitride hybrid bearings, consisting of ceramic balls and metal races, are beginning to replace conventional bearings in NASA/TM—2004-212882 1 special applications. Two reasons for this transition are that silicon nitride balls are about 30 percent harder and 40 percent lighter than steel. In addition, they have high wear resistance and greater corrosion resistance compared to steel balls. It is interesting to note that one of the main reasons for the initial development of silicon nitride some 30 thirty years ago was to replace metal with ceramics for future gas turbine and reciprocating engines. The engineer’s “holy grail” of an all ceramic, oil-free engine has not been achieved, but that research has led to a number of other applications in both the industrial and aerospace industries. In today’s turbine engines and helicopter transmissions, the health of the bearings is most often detected by the presence of debris found in the lubrication line when component damage begins to occur. Vibration data is also used to indicate the health of the bearing by monitoring the fundamental defect frequencies of the rolling element bearings such as the fundamental cage frequency, ball pass frequencies of the inner and outer race, and the ball spin frequency [1]. Several types of oil debris sensors exist for detecting metallic bearing debris [2]. Plug-type chip detectors, the most common oil debris sensor, consists of a magnetic plug fitted with electrical contacts in which debris forms an electrical bridge between the contacts, causing the state of an indicator to change. Inductance type, on-line debris sensors measure debris size and count particles based on disturbances of a magnetic field caused by passage of a metallic particle. Current oil debris sensor technology for aerospace applications relies on the metallic properties of the debris to detect damage. Since ceramic rolling elements debris has different properties, a new sensing system is needed to indicate the system health if ceramic components are to be safely implemented in the aerospace community. The ceramic debris sensor must be capable of indicating component damage with sufficient reliability and forewarning to prevent a catastrophic failure. Extensive resources have been invested in ceramic material development for use in new aerospace applications such as hybrid bearings. Diagnostic tools are required to decrease maintenance costs and improve safety of this enabling technology. Lack of diagnostics for ceramic/hybrid bearings is a barrier to the widespread deployment of this technology. If reliable sensing diagnostic tools are not developed to indicate ceramic component health, ceramic components will have limited benefit to the aerospace industry. Development of a reliable, on-line sensing system for detecting damage to aerospace bearings is one goal of the Mechanical Components Branch. Future hybrid bearings will be a combination of ceramic and metallic components. For this reason, the health monitoring system may require the integration of two measurement technologies to indicate damage. Sensor fusion techniques have been developed integrating oil debris and vibration based component damage detection techniques into intelligent health monitoring systems for