DOI: 10.1115/1.2834113. Comparative Evaluation of MoS2 and WS2 as Powder Lubricants in High Speed, Multi-Pad Journal Bearings

Comparative Evaluation of MoS2 and WS2 as Powder Lubricants in High Speed, Multi-Pad Journal Bearings

10.1115/1.2834113

Crossref journal-article

ASME International

Journal of Tribology (33)

Abstract

As part of a program to develop solid/powder-lubricated journal bearings, a comparative evaluation has been performed to aid in determining whether MoS2 and WS2 powder are suitable lubricants for high-speed, extreme-environment multi-pad journal bearings. Plots of traction coefficients, friction, frictional power loss, and bearing pad temperature are presented as a means for comparing various powder lubricants. This paper primarily focuses on experiments carried out on a three-pad journal bearing and a disk-on-disk tribometer. Results showed that MoS2 traction curves resemble that of SAE 10 synthetic oil. Unlike liquid lubricants, powder films have a limiting shear strength property. Once the powder reaches this limiting value, the maximum traction coefficient is limited and the powder essentially shears along sliding walls. Experimental traction data shows evidence of this property in various powders. The thermal performance of the bearing was evaluated at speeds up to 30,000 rpm and loads up to 236 N. Although WS2 displayed constant friction coefficient and low temperature with increasing dimensionless load, MoS2 exhibited frictional behavior resembling that of a hydrodynamic lubricating film. In this paper, an attempt has been made to provide a criterion for the selection of solid lubricants for use in those tribosystems that may be operated in a high speed/load regime (i.e., high strain rates) as an alternative yard stick to conventional comparative approaches.

Bibliography

Higgs, C. F., Heshmat, C. A., & Heshmat, H. (1999). Comparative Evaluation of MoS2 and WS2 as Powder Lubricants in High Speed, Multi-Pad Journal Bearings. Journal of Tribology, 121(3), 625â630.

Authors 3

C. Fred Higgs (first)
Crystal A. Heshmat (additional)
Hooshang Heshmat (additional)

References 12 Referenced 47

Heshmat, H., 1991a, “Development of Rheological Model for Powder Lubrication,” Final Technical Report MTI 91TR31, U.S. Army AVSCOM, NASA contractor report CR-189043.
Heshmat H. , 1991b, “The Rheology and Hydrodynamics of Dry Powder Lubrication,” STLE Tribology Transactions, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 433–439. (10.1080/10402009108982054)
Heshmat H. , 1991c, “High-Temperature, Solid-Lubricated Bearing Development—Dry-Powder-Lubricated Traction Testing,” AIAA J. of Propulsion and Power, Vol. 7, No. 5, pp. 814–820. (10.2514/3.23396)
Heshmat H. , 1992, “The Quasi-Hydrodynamic Mechanism of Powder Lubrication; Part II—Lubricant Film Pressure Profile,” Journal of STLE, Vol. 48, No. 5, pp. 373–383.
Heshmat, H., 1993, “Rolling and Sliding Characteristics of Powder Lubricated Ceramics at High-Temperature and Speed,” Presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of the STLE, Philadelphia, Pa., STLE Lubrication Engineering, Vol. 49, No. 10, pp. 791–797.
Heshmat, H., 1994, “On the Theory of Quasi-Hydrodynamic Lubrication with Dry Powder: Application to Development of High Speed Journal Bearing for Hostile Environment,” Proceedings of the 20th Leeds-Lyon Symposium on Dissipative Processes in Tribology, Lyon, France, Dowson et al., ed., Elsevier Science B. V., Tribology Series 27, pp. 45–64. (10.1016/S0167-8922(08)70296-7)
Heshmat, H., and Brewe, D. E., 1994, “Performance of Powder-Lubricated Journal Bearings with Dry MoS2 Powder: Experimental Study of Thermal Phenomena,” Accepted for publication by ASME Trans., JOURNAL OF TRIBOLOGY, and presented at the ASME/STLE Tribology Conference, Lahaina, Hawaii. (10.1115/1.2831282)
Heshmat, H., and Brewe, D. E., 1995, “Performance of a Powder Lubricated Journal Bearing with WS2 Powder: Experimental Study,” Presented at the ASME/STLE Tribology Conference, ASME JOURNAL OF TRIBOLOGY, Vol. 117, pp. 1–8. (10.1115/1.2831282)
Heshmat H. , and DillJ. F., 1992, “Traction Characteristics of High-Temperature, Powder-Lubricated Ceramics (Si3N4/αSiC),” STLE Transactions, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 360–366. (10.1080/10402009208982129)
Heshmat, H., Godet, M., and Berthier, Y., 1995, “On the Role and Mechanism of Dry Triboparticulate Lubrication,” Pittsburgh, Pa., STLE, Lubrication Engineering, Vol. 51, No. 7, pp. 557–564.
Murray S. F. , and CalabreseS. J., 1993, “Effect of Solid Lubricants on Low Speed Sliding Behavior of Silicon Nitride at Temperatures to 800°C,” STLE Lubrication Engineering, Vol. 49, No. 12, pp. 955–964.
Stachowiak, G. W., and Batchelor, A. W., 1993, Engineering Tribology, Tribology Series 24, Elsevier Science Publishers B. V., Amsterdam, pp. 416–417.

Dates

Type	When
Created	17 years, 5 months ago (Feb. 27, 2008, 3:58 p.m.)
Deposited	2 years, 3 months ago (May 16, 2023, 2:15 p.m.)
Indexed	1 month, 3 weeks ago (June 28, 2025, 12:05 a.m.)
Issued	26 years, 1 month ago (July 1, 1999)
Published	26 years, 1 month ago (July 1, 1999)
Published Online	26 years, 1 month ago (July 1, 1999)
Published Print	26 years, 1 month ago (July 1, 1999)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Higgs_1999, title={Comparative Evaluation of MoS2 and WS2 as Powder Lubricants in High Speed, Multi-Pad Journal Bearings}, volume={121}, ISSN={1528-8897}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/1.2834113}, DOI={10.1115/1.2834113}, number={3}, journal={Journal of Tribology}, publisher={ASME International}, author={Higgs, C. Fred and Heshmat, Crystal A. and Heshmat, Hooshang}, year={1999}, month=jul, pages={625–630} }

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