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Tribology International 39 (2006) 13421354 www.elsevier.com/locate/triboint

Tribological study on hydrostatic slipper bearing with annular orice damper for water hydraulic axial piston motor
S.L. Niea,, G.H. Huangb,, Y.P. Lib
a

School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China b Faculty of Engineering, University of Regina, Regina, Sask., Canada S4S 0A2 Received 29 October 2004; received in revised form 26 July 2005; accepted 21 October 2005 Available online 1 December 2005

Abstract Hydrostatic slipper bearing is an effective way to maintain a uid lm between slipper pad and swash plate that slide against each other, and thereby mitigate direct surface-to-surface contact in water hydraulic axial piston motor (WHAPM). The hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper is proposed, and the reaction force of the bearing in WHAPM is investigated. The effects from the friction within the cylinder bore, the dynamics of the piston, and the centrifugal force of the pistonslipper assembly are examined. The characteristic equation of the hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper is formulated, where the effects of various geometric parameters (e.g. damping length, supporting length, and clearance between the piston and the cylinder bore) are reected. The relevant criterion for designing the hydrostatic slipper bearing can then be established. Results of the theoretical analyses indicate that (a) the friction coefcient, the swash plate angle, and the inertia and centrifugal loads (generated under a high motor rotating speed) would have signicant inuences on the reaction force; (b) an appropriate swash plate angle can help eliminate the uctuation of the reaction force; (c) the load-carrying capacity of the hydrostatic slipper bearing is more sensitive to the damping length than to the supporting length of the piston; (d) a short damping length can help enhance the load-carrying capacity; (e) a small clearance between the piston and the cylinder bore would help improve the adaptive ability to the varying load for the hydrostatic slipper bearing, when clearance between the slipper pad and the swash plate ranges from 5 to 20 mm. Experimental studies of the slipper pads sliding against the swash plates are conducted at a custom-manufactured test apparatus, given different material combinations and design methods. The experimental results indicate that the hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper would decrease the possibility of the severe wear between the slipper pad and the swash plate in comparison with the hydrostatic clamping ratio bearing in the WHAPM, and the CRA laser cladding (compared to the ZrO2 MgO-plasma-sprayed coating and the stainless steel 2Cr13) is a promising candidate as the tribo-material when sliding against composite materials in water lubrication system. The hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper has been successfully applied to a WHAPM developed at the Huazhong University Science and Technology. The result demonstrates that the developed bearing has a satisfactory tribolgical performance, and can be extended to the manufacture of water hydraulic axial piston pumps. r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Annular orice damper; Dynamics; Hydrostatic slipper bearing; Piston; Reaction force; Water hydraulic axial piston motor

1. Introduction Water hydraulic transmission has caught attention as a renascent technique during the past two decades. This is due to its advantages from both economic and environAlso for correspondence. Corresponding author. Tel.: +306 585 4095; fax: +306 585 4855.

E-mail addresses: niewater@tom.com (S.L. Nie), gordon.huang@uregina.ca (G.H. Huang), nlyp@env.uregina.ca (Y.P. Li). 0301-679X/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.triboint.2005.10.007

mental points of view, as characterized by its durability, reliability, safety and cleanness. It has been widely applied to elds of food processing, papermaking, metalworking, medicine production, atomic power generation, and oceanic development [1,2]. Water hydraulic motor is an important component in a water hydraulic transmission system. There are several challenging issues associated with the motor, such as conicts between lubrication and wear, and between sealing and leakage [1]. Particularly, in a water hydraulic axial piston motor (abbreviated as

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Nomenclature ps j g d R n o Fa, Fb B mp L L0 La, Lb Lc f N Nmax Nmin Nmean d x x supply pressure (MPa) angular position (deg) angle of swash plate (deg) diameter of piston (mm) distribution radius of piston (mm) speed of rotor of motor (r/min) angular velocity of rotor of motor (rad/s) acting forces of piston (N) viscous damping coefcient mass of pistonslipper assembly (kg) theoretical length of piston (mm) piston length remaining in cylinder bore (mm) stress distribution lengths of piston (mm) distance from the centroid of piston to spherical center of piston (mm) kinetic friction coefcient reaction force of single slipper (N) maximum of reaction force (N) minimum of reaction force (N) mean of reaction force (N) uctuation ratio of reaction force (%) additive load coefcient axial position of single piston (m)

u a qv1 qv2 pc R1 R2 h1 Ce1 Ce2 m l1 l2 h2 a W J

axial velocity of single piston (m/s) axial acceleration of single piston (m2/s) ow rate through the clearance between slipper pad and swash plate (m3/s) ow rate from the annular orice to the pocket (m3/s) control pressure inside the pocket (MPa) internal radius of the pocket (mm) external radius of the pocket (mm) lubrication lm thickness between slipper pad and swash plate (mm) impact coefcient of laminar entry ow for slipper pad impact coefcient of laminar entry ow between piston and cylinder bore dynamic viscosity of uid(Pa s) damping length of piston (mm) supporting length of piston (mm) clearance between piston and cylinder bore (mm) pressure ratio a pc =ps load-carrying capacity of the hydrostatic slipper bearing (N) load stiffness of the hydrostatic slipper bearing J @W =@h1

WHAPM), slipper pad and swash plate can form a key friction pair, where the above conicts exist and may result in signicant inuences on the motors performance. Hydrostatic slipper bearing is an effective way to maintain a uid lm between slipper pad and swash plate that slide against each other, and to thereby mitigate direct surface-to-surface contact. Previously, a number of studies on hydrostatic thrust bearing in hydraulic axial piston equipment were carried out through considering multiple impact factors such as operating conditions, geometric parameters, and matching materials. Kazama and Yamaguchi [3,4] studied a at oil-lubricated metallic slipper bearing. Basic equations for the effects from cyclic changes in supply pressure, eccentric loads, uidic properties and elastic deformation of the parts were derived. Reasonable design criteria for optimum sizes of the bearing and the seal parts of the hydraulic equipment were presented under the conditions of concentric loads and steady state. Mixed lubrication characteristics of hydrostatic thrust bearings were examined experimentally in another research [5]. The effects of surface roughness, supply pressure, bearing load, rotation speed, restrictor size, leakage ow rate, and power losses were claried. A signicant agreement existed between the experimental outputs and the theoretical results from a mixed lubrication model. Pang et al. [6] investigated oil lm pressure distribution and load characteristics through considering (a) the pressureviscosity effect of the lubricant, (b) the pressureelasticity effect of the lubricating surface, and (c) the properties of dynamic

stiffness in the oil lm. A laser holographic photoelastic experimental study was conducted for system verication. Thus, an innovative basis in terms of system design and parameter estimation for a high-pressure plunger pump would be provided. Koc and Hooke et al. [7,8] studied the effects of deformation in slipper pad, clamping ratio and orice size on the load-carrying capacity of hydrostatic thrust bearing under a low-speed condition in axial piston pumps and motors. They concluded that (a) polishing of the running face to a slightly convex form appeared to be essential for successful operation under all conditions; (b) the orice in under-clamped slippers could increase the clearance and destabilize the slipper, which would result in the slipper becoming sensitive to the effect of tilting couples; (c) the design for over-clamped slippers seemed to depend on the precise value of the clamping ratio and the width of the slipper land. These theoretical results were supported by measurements of slipper clearance obtained from an axial piston pump under normal operating conditions. In another research [9], frictions of water-based slippers were measured. The results were consistent with the clearances predicted using the model developed for oilbased slippers. It was reported that a roughness (of the slipper surfaces) of lower than 1 mm would be benecial for successfully operating the water-based hydraulic system. Manring et al. [10] investigated the effects of pressureinduced deformations on the characteristics of hydrostatic thrust bearing. They developed a mathematical model that reected the pressure distribution between the two sliding

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surfaces, the ow rate from the system supply, and the load-carrying capacity of the bearing. A comparison analysis for concave and convex thrust surfaces was conducted with respect to the magnitude of deformation. The results demonstrated that all deformations would increase the ow rate of the bearing, and that the concave deformation would increase the load-carrying capacity. Nie et al. [11,12] developed a hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper, which could provide a stronger power to resist pollution and a higher reliability in comparison with the traditional conguration that was equipped with a slim-tube damper. The relevant mathematical model was established, and the performance of the developed bearing was analyzed through system simulation. The results indicated that the load-carrying capacity of the developed hydrostatic slipper bearing was not correlated with system pressure, water viscosity, temperature, or rotor speed. Recently Wang and Yamaguchi [13,14] claried experimentally and theoretically the effects of nozzle and thermoplastic materials on the characteristics of hydrostatic bearing/seal parts in water hydraulic axial pumps and motors. A two-dimensional elastohydrostatic model including an elastic deformation was developed. The loadcarrying capacity, power loss, and load stiffness of the hydrostatic slipper bearing (including effect of elastic deformation, equivalent Youngs modulus, and eccentric load) were discussed theoretically. It was reported that the bearing made of elastic/rigid materials exhibited larger load-carrying capacity and lower power loss in comparison with that composed of materials of the same rigidity. Compared with cases of hydraulic oil, the power loss due to leakage ow in water hydraulic systems was slightly higher, while the loss due to friction torque was much lower. The tribological properties of different material combinations under water lubrication were studied in the past decades [1522]. However, the tribological performance of matching materials under low load and low velocity is different from that of hydrostatic slipper bearings in water hydraulic motors under high load and high sliding velocity. Brookes et al. [23] explored approaches for analysis, design and testing of key friction pairs in seawater hydraulic pump/motor, conducted material screening under the condition of water lubrication, and investigated the effect of eccentric load on the abrasion of slipper pad and piston. Using pad-on-plate and pin-on-disk tests, a combination of advanced engineering ceramics sliding on ber-reinforced polymers in water was evaluated. Terava et al. [24] elaborated a special friction pair testing stand to simulate pistoncylinder and slipperswash plate pairs in a water hydraulic piston pump, and nite element method (FEM) analyses were completed for slipper sliding on a swash plate; it was found that the friction coefcient of stainless steel AISI420 against PEEK decreased with increasing sliding velocity under water lubrication. Li et al. [25] explored the wear and lubrication characteristics of Torlon slipper against stainless steel EN431 swash plate in water-

based axial piston pumps and motors, and found that a good friction matching was of benet in forming a hydrodynamic effect. Yang et al. [26] investigated the wear characteristics of matching materials and reported that engineering ceramics matching with engineering plastics was preferred for the piston and cylinder of water hydraulic axial piston equipment. As an extension of literature [12], this research will focus on the development of a hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper for WHAPM. The objectives are detailed as follows: (1) reaction force of the slipper pad in a swash-plate-type WHAPM will be investigated, considering the effects of the friction within the cylinder bore, the dynamics of the piston, and the centrifugal force of the pistonslipper assembly; (2) characteristic equation of the bearing performance will be developed, such that a design criterion of the bearing can be established; (3) simulation for the performance of the bearing under various geometry and operating conditions will be undertaken; (4) experiments of the slipper pads sliding against the swash plates for WHAPM under different material combinations and design options will be performed through a custom-manufactured testing apparatus, to demonstrate advantages of the developed hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper. 2. Theoretical analyses 2.1. Bearing description It is crucial to adopt appropriate structures and matching materials for the slipper and swash-plate pair in WHAPM to mitigate corrosion, wear and leakage. A hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper is shown in Fig. 1. The hydrostatic slipper bearing consists of a xed damper and a changeable damper. The annular orice typed xed damper is employed to keep a laminar ow through the clearance between the piston and the cylinder bore. The clearance between the slipper pad and the swash plate varies with the bearing load. A screw is set

Pocket

Changeable damper

Annular orifice fixed damper L h2 pc ps

qv

R2

R1

h1
Swash plate Slipper Piston

l2

l1
Screw

Cylinder Middle chamber

Fig. 1. Hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper.

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L Z axis N sin N f Fa o1 Fp d c N cos f Fb Z axis La Fb

Lb Lc Fa L0

Y axis

X axis O

Fig. 2. Forces analyses on a piston.

to form a middle chamber inside the piston, while the four radial holes on the piston are used to inject uid into the middle chamber. A passage at the center of the piston is used to communicate the middle chamber with the pocket without any pressure loss. A uid pressure prole is generated between the slipper pad and the swash plate, which acts to support the slipper pad against the swash plate and creates a separating force (W) to balance the bearing load. 2.2. Load characteristics of the piston 2.2.1. Mechanical analysis To design the hydrostatic slipper bearing properly, it is signicant to simulate the forces that act on the slipper. A sketch of mechanical kinetics analysis for the piston inside the high-pressure zone is shown in Fig. 2. As the piston reciprocates within the cylinder bore of WHAPM, it is pushed by the high-pressure uid against the swash plate by means of the slipper pad. Here the reaction force of the slipper pad is given as N. The supply pressure of the system is assumed to be constant within the high-pressure zone. Viscous damping and friction coefcient for the reciprocation process of the piston are assumed to be identical. The centrifugal force of the pistonslipper assembly is lumped at centroid C. The normal reaction forces of the piston against the cylinder bore are lumped as Fa and Fb, while the relevant friction forces are shown on the contact lines within the cylinder bore as fFa and fFb, respectively. The total contacting length between the piston and the cylinder bore is constant during the reciprocation of the piston owing to the special piston prole. Considering the effect of the hydrostatic slipper bearing, the friction force between the slipper pad and the swash plate can be negligible. Actually, for the hydraulic axial piston motor, the spring force for piston return is also negligible [27].

When the piston draw back the cylinder block completely, we have j 0 and x 0. For the piston inside the high-pressure zone, its position, axial velocity, and axial acceleration can be described as follows: x R tan g1 cos j, u dx Ro tan g sin j, dt (1) (2)

d2 x Ro2 tan g cos j. (3) dt2 The force equilibrium along the X-axis and the moment equilibrium relative to the center of the piston joint can be expressed as follows: a mp a p 2 d ps N cos g f F a F b Bu, 4 (4) (5)

F a F b N sin g mp Ro2 cos j 0,

    La Lb F a L L0 Fb L 3 3 d mp Ro2 cos j Lc f F a F b 0. 6 2 Furthermore, the two stress-distributing triangles of the piston caused by elasticity deformation are similar to each other [27]. Therefore, we have: 3L L0 L2 0 , 6L 3L0 3L L0 2L2 0 . 6L 3L0

La

(7a)

Lb

(7b)

By solving Eqs. (1)(7), the reaction force (N) of the slipper pad can be obtained as follows:

p=4d 2 ps mp Ro2 tan g cos j fmp Ro2 cos j3L Lc =L0 La =L0 2 BRo tan g sin j . cos g f sin g3L=L0 La =L0 2

(8)

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2.2.2. Sensitivity analysis To analyze the sensitivity of the reaction force (N) to the geometrical and operating conditions, simulation of the reaction force is conducted through the MATLAB package. The uctuation of the reaction force within the high-pressure zone (j 021801) is highlighted, while the low-pressure effect in WHAPM is considered negligible. Parameter d is used to express the uctuation ratio of the reaction force, which is dened as follows: d N max N min 100%. N mean (9)

Several parameters associated with the mechanical model (8) are obtained from Nie [12], while the others are estimated based on information from the existing literature [27,28]. The main parameters used for the simulation are listed in Table 1.

thus alleviate its uctuation, and the reaction force would also be raised under an increased j level. Fig. 3(c) shows that a high rotating speed would lead to a signicant uctuation of the reaction force; such a uctuation would be raised when the j level is increased. Fig. 3(d) presents the uctuation ratios (d) under different swash-plate angles. When the swash-plate angle ranges between 71 and 101, the uctuation of the reaction force becomes insignicant, where the friction and inertia forces are counterbalanced to each other. When the swash-plate angle is between 71 and 8.51, the reaction force would be reduced as the j level is raised. When the swash-plate angle is between 8.51 and 151, the reaction force becomes increased as the j level is raised. In addition, it is apparent that the effects of viscous damping of the piston on the reaction force are weak and negligible. Therefore Eq. (8) can be rewritten as follows:

p=4 d 2 ps mp Ro2 tan g cos j fmp Ro2 cos j3L Lc =L0 La =L0 2 . cos g f sin g3L=L0 La =L0 2

(10)

The effects of the kinetic friction coefcient (f) on the reaction force are illustrated in Fig. 3(a). It is indicated that the kinetic friction coefcient has signicant effects on the uctuation ratio of the reaction force within the highpressure zone (j 021801). When f is low (e.g. less than 0.1), the reaction force would be raised under an increased j level and, thus, the inertia force would be prominent (instead of the friction force). Conversely, when f is high (e.g. more than 0.2), the friction force would become prominent. The reaction force would become nearly constant when f is between 0.1 and 0.15; however, an increase in f level would lead to signicant uctuations in the reaction force. Figs. 3(b)(d) show the effects of supply pressure, rotating speed and swash-plate angle on the reaction force, respectively. It can be seen from Fig. 3(b) that a high supply pressure would result in a raised reaction force and

2.3. Design criterion 2.3.1. Characteristic equation Assume that the ow between the slipper pad and the swash plate is laminar and its pressure prole is a natural logarithmic type curve within the range of sealing zone [27]. Then the ow rate through the clearance (h1) can be written as follows: qv1 ph3 pc 1 . 6mC e1 ln R2 =R1 (11)

Table 1 Main simulation parameters of the hydraulic slipper bearing Parameter ps g B h1 d R1 l1 Ce1 L Lc Value 14 10 0.028 515 16 8 6 1.3 51.0 16 Unit MPa deg mm mm mm mm mm mm Parameter n m f h2 R R2 l2 Ce2 L0 mp Value 1500 0.55 103 0.050.1 1520 35 10.25 28 2 34 0.08 Unit r/min Pa s mm mm mm mm mm kg

Because eccentricity of the piston inside the cylinder bore is uncertain, the volumetric ow rate through the annular orice could be calculated according to the average eccentricity. Although clearance h2 is very small, the cross-section area of the annular orice is relatively large in comparison with the slim-tube damper in the hydrostatic slipper bearing under oil lubrication [12]. Based on the conventional equation for a low Reynolds number ow associated with the effect of a laminar inceptive ow, the ow rate from the annular orice to the pocket can be represented as follows: qv2 pd pd h2 n h3 p pc 1:75 12ml 1 C e2 2 s 2   pd pd h2 n h3 pc 1:75 12ml 2 C e2 2 2   pd p pc p h3 s c 1:75. 12mC e2 2 l1 l2

12

Dene the pressure ratio as a pc =ps . Based on the continuity equation of uid ow, the characteristic equation of the bearing can be derived

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Fig. 3. Effects of different factors on the reaction force.

from Eqs. (11) and (12): a 1 1 l 1 =l 2 8l 1 C e2 =7dh3 C e1 ln R2 =R1 h3 2 1 1 , 1 k 1 k 2 h3 1

13

supply pressure (ps). Substituting Eq. (13) into Eq. (14), we have ! p R2 R2 ps 2 1 W . (15) 2 ln R2 =R1 1 k 1 k 2 h3 1 The load stiffness of the hydrostatic slipper bearing can be denoted as J @W =@h1 . The pressure ratio (a) under the maximum load stiffness and the corresponding lubrication-lm thickness can be derived from the limiting value of @J=@h1 0: ajJ max 2 , 31 k1 (16)

where k1 l 1 =l 2 and k2 8l 1 C e2 =7dh3 C e1 ln R2 =R1 . 2 It can also be deduced from Eq. (13) that if h1 ! 0 then a ! 1=1 k1 . This means that the pressure ratio (a) of the hydrostatic slipper bearing lies between 0 and 1=1 k1 . 2.3.2. Load-carrying capacity In the light of the assumptions for Eq. (11), the support force (W) generated from the pressure prole of the slipper pad can be expressed as follows: ! ! p R2 R2 p R2 R2 2 1 2 1 (14) W pc p a. 2 ln R2 =R1 2 ln R2 =R1 s The support force (W), which acts to resist the load of the bearing, denotes the load-carrying capacity of the bearing. From Eq. (14), the load-carrying capacity of the bearing is proportional to the pressure ratio (a) and the

h1 jJ max

s 3 1 k1 . 2k2

(17)

To explore the sensitivity of the load-carrying capacity to the clearance (h2) and the contacting length between piston and cylinder bore, relation curves of the pressure ratio (a) and the clearance (h1) under different h2, l1 and l2 levels are presented in Fig. 4. A steep curve indicates a strong adaptive capability to the variable load, implying that any small variation in the clearance (h1) will result in signicant

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variations in the pressure (pc) inside the pocket as well as the load-carrying capacity. Fig. 4(a) shows that the clearance (h2) between the piston and the cylinder bore has a signicant impact on pressure ratio (a), where the detailed conditions under different clearance levels (h2 10, 12, 15, 20, 25 and 30 mm) are provided. A lower clearance (h2) exhibits a stronger adaptive ability to the variations of the load when h1 ranges from 5 to 20 mm. For the WHAPM, an over-sized clearance (h2) between the piston and the cylinder bore would result in a high leakage ow and a low volumetric efciency due to the low viscosity of water. Conversely, a desire to reach an extremely low clearance (h2) would lead to signicantly increased manufacturing cost, although it may be of benet to the bearing operation. Therefore, it is appropriate to set h2 15225 mm for the hydrostatic slipper bearing in the WHAPM. The effect of the supporting length between the piston and the cylinder bore (l2) on the pressure ratio (a) is illustrated in Fig. 4(b), under l 2 25, 28, 35, 40 and 45 mm. The longer the supporting length (l2) is, the higher the maximum pressure ratio (a) becomes and thus the load-carrying capacity for the bearing; however, the pressure ratio (a) is insensitive to l2 when h1 is between 5 and 15 mm. The effects of the damping length (l1) on the pressure ratio (a) are illustrated in Fig. 4(c), under l 1 4, 6, 8 and 10 mm. A short damping length (l1) could help enhance the pressure inside the pocket (pc) as well as the pressure ratio (a), leading to an increased load-carrying capacity. At the same time, as shown in Eqs. (12) and (13), a short damping length (l1) would also correspond to a short supporting length (l2), leading to a shortened sealing length between the piston and the cylinder and thus an increased leakage ow; conversely, a long damping length (l1) would correspond to a long supporting length (l2), resulting in difculties in conguring the piston. In general, the loadcarrying capacity of the bearing is more sensitive to the damping length (l1) than the supporting length (l2). Therefore, choice of the damping length (l1) should be considered eclectically. 2.3.3. Geometrical constraint In fact, the reaction force (N) of the slipper is the load to the bearing, which is resisted by the support force (W). As shown in Fig. 3, the reaction force varies with the angular position (j) of the slipper. Within the high-pressure zone, its maximum corresponds to a large a and a small h1, while its minimum corresponds to a small a and a large h1. To simplify the design, the mean value of reaction forces can be assumed to be the loads of the bearing under the designated clearance h1 jJ max . Therefore, integrating Eqs. (10), (15) and (17), we have ! d2 R2 R2 4 2 1 . cos g f sin g3L=L0 La =L0 2 ln R2 =R1 31 k1 (18)

Fig. 4. Effects of different factors on the pressure ratio.

Eq. (18) is thus the design criterion for the hydrostatic slipper bearing in the WHAPM. Obviously, the kinetic friction coefcient between the piston and the cylinder bore

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has signicant effects on the geometry of the bearing. However, this coefcient would vary with different material combinations and is of uncertain feature during the reciprocation process of the piston. Assume that the friction coefcient between the engineering composites and the corrosion-resistant metals varied between 0.10 and 0.20 [15], Eq. (18) can be rearranged as follows: ! d2 R2 R2 4 2 1 x , (19) cos g ln R2 =R1 31 k1 where the additive load coefcient is dened as x 1=1 f tan g3L=L0 La =L0 2. Generally x 0:9320:96. 3. Experimental research 3.1. Experimental method 3.1.1. Apparatus The simulation bench (Fig. 5) was built based on a swash-plate-type single piston equipment, which was employed to simulate the slipper-pad vs. swash-plate interface and the piston vs. cylinder bore interface in high-pressure water. In this device, the swash plate was driven by an electromotor associated with a frequency inverter (from 0 to 2000 r/min), while the cylinder block was set stationary. The angle of the swash plate was 101, and the maximum diameter of the piston was 25 mm while its distribution radius in reference to the rotating axis of the swash plate was 35 mm. The medium used in the apparatus was synthetic seawater, which was produced according to the ASTM D1142-52 and puried through a 10-mm lter. The pressurized water was supplied by a water hydraulic power package. The system pressure could be regulated from 6 to 16 MPa through a water throttle valve, and the ow rate could be adjusted from 8 to 17 L/min by means of a water hydraulic axial piston pump driven by a frequency inverter (from 700 to 1500 r/min). Relief valves A and B acted as a safety support system. The testing temperature of the uid medium was controlled within the range of 2030 1C. To examine the wearing status of the tested specimen, the slipper pad was separated from the slipper such that the swash plate could be easily disconnected from the rotating axis. 3.1.2. Measurement The wearing rates of the slipper pad and the swash plate could be represented by their thickness differences within operation duration. The operating procedures included: (1) four equal markers were marked on the reverse of the tested samples; (2) all engineering plastic specimens were immerged in pure water to reach saturation; (3) all samples were cleaned with acetone in an ultrasonic bath for 10 min before the test; (4) the average of the three measured values for each marker was regarded as the measuring result for the marker, and then the average of the measured values for all markers was noted as the measuring result for the

Water reservoir Filter Relief valve A Pump

Relief valve B

Accumulator Flow meter Check valves block

Throttle valve

Pressure gauge A

Pressure gauge B

Piston-slipper assembly Swash plate

Water basin

n Axes
Fig. 5. Sketch of test bench.

Measuring graduate

specimen. The roughnesses of the samples were measured through Hommel Tester T8000. All micrographs of the samples were taken through Smartscope 250 Automatic Photomicrography System. The engineering ceramic samples should undergo carbon sedimentation on its working interface electrically prior to the examination on S-570 HITACHI EDAX scanning electron microscope (SEM). 3.1.3. Specimen To investigate the friction and wear of the slipper-pad and swash-plate materials, several pairs of pistonslipper assemblies were designed and fabricated based on the above theoretical analyses. According to the literature on friction match under water lubrication [1526], the characteristics of the tested samples were listed in Table 2. 3.2. Result analysis In this research, the supply pressure was 14 MPa, the rotating speed of the swash plate was 1200 r/min, and the mean sliding velocity of the slipper pad relative to the swash plate was approximately 4.3 m/s. The operating period was 8 h. Fig. 6 shows the wearing depths of the slippers pads sliding against the swash plates under different material combinations within the operating period. The wearing depths of the slipper pads were sensitive to the materials of the swash plates. For a slipper pad made of an identical material (either PEEK or TX), its wearing depth would be

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1350 Table 2 Specications of the tested samples Part Piston Cylinder sleeve Slipper Slipper pad Swash plate Material 17-4 PHa PEEKb Ti6A14V TXc PEEK ZrO2 MgO plasma sprayed on 1Cr18Ni9Ti CRAd laser clad on Ti6Al4V 2Cr13 (Hardened) Average roughness (mm) Ra Ra Ra Ra Ra Ra Ra 0.80 0.45 0.23 0.11 1.08 0.07 0.35 Hardness HRC 4245 M102 M94 M102 HRC 5658 HRC 5355 HRC 4753 S.L. Nie et al. / Tribology International 39 (2006) 13421354

The 17-4 PH is an abbreviation of 0Cr17Ni4Cu4Nb; it is produced through special heat treatment for hardening. PEEK including carbon ber reinforced with graphite and PTFE lubricant. c TX is a polyethylene terephthalate compound incorporated with a uniformly dispersed solid lubricant. d CRA is an abbreviation of corrosion-resistant alloy, with its composition being: C 0.70.9%, Co 1215%, Cr 2224%, W 45%, Mo 3.54.5%, Feo3%, rare elementso1%, Si+B 3.54.5%, and Ni others.
b

15 12.6

10

5 2.4

4.4 1.2

0.2 0 PEEK / ZrO2 TX / ZrO2 PEEK / CRA

0.6

TX / CRA PEEK / 2Cr13 TX / 2Cr13

Fig. 6. Wear depths of the slipper pads.

the highest when sliding against the ZrO2 MgO-plasmasprayed swash plate, the next highest when against the 2Cr13 swash plate, and the lowest when against the CRAlaser cladding swash plate. Fig. 7 shows the SEM images of the ZrO2 MgO-plasmasprayed coating on the 1Cr18Ni9Ti swash plate as well as the CRA-laser cladding on the Ti6Al4V swash plate. It could be seen from Figs. 7(a) and (b) that, there were several tiny air holes and impurities at the transition zone of the plasma sprayed coatings, which were mechanically combined with 1Cr18Ni9Ti metallic substrate. Some of those holes might communicate to each other and form uid channels. Consequently, seawater could access the metallic substrate and thus erode the interphase. The erosion could cripple the combined strength of the coating and the 1Cr18Ni9Ti metallic substrate, causing debris to peel off and thereby to increase abrasion wear. The CRA laser cladding was metallurgically bonded with the Ti6Al4V metallic substrate. As shown in Figs. 7(c) and (d), minor problems such as air hole and impurity existed in the laser cladding. The phase structure was generally dense and uniform. Therefore, the wearing depth of its composite counterpart was lower than that in the ZrO2 MgO-plasma-sprayed coating. For the 2Cr13 swash plate, a thimbleful of metal debris sticking on its composite counterpart (either PEEK or TX) could be found. This was attributed to the low hardness of 2Cr13 that might lead to

an adhesion tendency between the composite slipper pad and the 2Cr13 swash plate under high load and sliding velocity. Hence, both composite counterparts of the 2Cr13 swash plates exhibited larger wearing depths than that of the CRA laser cladding. Thus, the CRA laser cladding was a promising candidate as the tribo-material when sliding against composite materials in water lubrication system. In order to validate the advantages of the bearing developed through this research, several comparison experiments with the bearings designed through the hydrostatic clamping ratio method were performed. The design method for the hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper was denoted as Method A, while the design method for the bearing with the hydrostatic clamping ratio is 1.1 (e 1:1) was denoted as Method B. No auxiliary supporting area would be adopted on the sliding surfaces of the slipper pads in either Method A or B. The experimental conditions were exactly identical except that two different design methods were used. Fig. 8 shows the wearing depths of the TX and PEEK slipper pads sliding on the CRA-laser-cladding swash plate within the operating period. It is indicated that the wearing rates of the bearing under such a condition were lower than those under a hydrostatic clamping ratio (e) of 1.1; also, the hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper would have a reduced wearing rate for the slipper pad. Fig. 9 shows the micrographs of the tested slipper pads. The hydrostatic slipper bearing could provide a lubrication lm between the friction pair, which would help avoid or alleviate directly rubbing against each other. From Figs. 9(c) and (d), the composite surface of the slipper pad (either PEEK or TX) would not be scratched severely by its counterpart swash plate. The TX slipper pads higher wearing rate (than the PEEK slipper pad) as well as its mechanical scufng was ascribed to the relatively low hardness of the TX. In addition, a thimbleful of metal debris sticking on the worn surface of the TX slipper pad, as shown in Fig. 9(d), could be identied. This implied the existence of an adhesion tendency between the TX slipper pad and the CRA laser cladding under high load and

Wearing depths / um

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Fig. 7. SEM of swash plates.

4 3.5 Wearing depths / um 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 TX (A) 0.6

3.5

1.3

0.2 TX (B) PEEK (A) PEEK (B)

Fig. 8. Wear depths of different slipper pads sliding on CRA swash plates.

sliding-velocity conditions. Generally, the composite slipper pad sliding on CRA laser claddings supported by a water lubrication lm would result in a satisfactory tribological performance. For the slipper bearing designed based on Method B, a continual lubrication lm could hardly be formed between the friction pair, due to the existence of a high residual compacting force. When sliding against the CRA-lasercladding swash plate as shown in Figs. 9(e) and (f), there

would appear several grooves on both of the PEEK and TX slipper pads because of the mechanical plowing. Especially, there would be adhesion debris aking off from the TX slipper pad. The high contact pressure and adhesion at local contact points could lead to an increased surface temperature and thus a heat fusion. The shear strength of the contact points would normally be lower than that of the CRA laser cladding (850 MPa) but higher than that of the TX (59 MPa). Thus, under a high sliding velocity, the adhesion debris would ake off from the TX surface and in turn plow on this surface, owing to the low hardness (M94, ASTM D785) and low tensile strength (72 MPa) of the TX. Lack of a continual lubrication lm between the friction pair would thus lead to a raised operating temperature. With increasing temperature, the adhered debris would gradually peel off the swash plate due to thermal and stress fatigues, leading to severe multi-body abrasion between the slipper pad and the swash plate. This process was consistent with the high wearing depth of the TX slipper pad in comparison with the PEEK slipper pad. For the TX slipper pad, several suspending particles could be found in the seawater basin. Moreover, the aked TX debris was washed away and ground into the mini-holes on the

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Fig. 9. Micrographs of the slipper pads sliding on CRA swash plates.

CRA-laser-cladding surface, which formed discontinuous thin plastic layers. Such a phenomenon was not found in the PEEK-slipper pad. This was attributed to the relatively high melting temperature and high hardness of PEEK. 4. Discussion (1) For the WHAPM, to mitigate uctuations of the output torque, determination for the angle of the swash plate should be based on (a) geometric parameters of the pistonslipper assembly, and (b) kinetic friction coefcient between the piston and the cylinder bore. In fact, if the swash plate angle is designated as g tan1 f 3L Lc =L0 La =L0 2 , the uctuation of the reaction force could then be eliminated, and thereby the reaction force of the WHAPM would equal the mean of the reaction forces; this forms the basis for designing the hydrostatic slipper bearing. The key parts of the custommanufactured testing apparatus could be designed according to the criterion as shown in Eq. (18).

(2) It is crucial that the hardness of the metallic parts, when sliding against composite counterparts, should be larger than HRC 50. An increased surface hardness would be benecial for improving the wearing performance of matching material [27]. However, the prediction results would not completely agree with the actual wearing rates of the metallic counterparts, as shown in Fig. 6. As to the composite parts, the wearing rates were signicantly affected by the roughness of slipper pads as well as the hardness of PEEK (higher than that of TX). A rougher TX would lead to a higher wearing depth on the slipper pad and could thus permit more direct contact than a smoother PEEK [29] (Fig. 8). Therefore, a lower roughness level (for the composite slipper pad) would help facilitate successful operations of the water hydraulic system, which is consistent with the results of Ref. [9]. (3) The reaction force of the slipper is dependent on the kinetic friction coefcient between the piston and the cylinder bore. From Fig. 3(a), an increased kinetic

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friction coefcient (f) would not only boost up the uctuation ratio of the reaction force within the highpressure zone, but also lessen the magnitude of the reaction force. When f varies from 0.1 to 0.3, the mean reaction force would decrease from 2730 to 2490 N with a decreasing ratio of 8.8%. This implies that the same share output-torque loss would occur due to the frictional loss originated from the interface of the piston and the cylinder bore. Although a low f level corresponds to a high reaction force (and thus increased contact stress between the slipper pad and the swash plate), the developed hydrostatic slipper bearing could help effectively reduce the possibility of direct rubbing against each other. This result is consistent with the experimental output as shown in Fig. 8. (4) The kinetic friction coefcient of Cotton Fiber Filled Bakelite (abbreviated as CFFB) sliding against stainless steel is 0.010.03 as introduced in Ref. [27], while that of PEEK sliding against stainless steel (such as the hardened 17-4 PH) is 0.190.21 [12]. A cylinder sleeve made of CFFB was initially employed to match against the hardened 17-4 PH piston, so as to validate the effects of varied f on the reaction force and wearing rate of the slipper pad. However, the clearance between the hardened 17-4 PH piston and the CFFB cylinder sleeve would become unsteady, due to the unstable linear expansion coefcient of the CFFB with the increased operating temperature as well as immersion saturation water absorption ratio. In this study, since the piston was often enclasped and thus could hardly run smoothly, the relevant comparison experiments became hard to be implemented successfully. (5) Due to the lack of effective means for measuring the water-lm thickness, it became difcult to quantify (a) the lubrication lm between the slipper pad and the swash plate, or (b) the kinetic friction between the piston and cylinder bore. Also, it is desired that the correlations between the water lm thickness and the leakage ow and between the friction coefcient and the wearing rates (of the matching materials) be investigated. Further research efforts into these areas would be benecial for enhancing the bearings performance.

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

5. Conclusions (1) In this research, the hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper has been proposed, and the reaction force of the bearing in a swash-plate axial piston motor has been investigated. The effects of the friction within the cylinder bore, the dynamics of the piston, and the centrifugal force of the pistonslipper assembly, are addressed. The simulation analyses have indicated that, the friction coefcient, the swash plate

(6)

angle, and the inertia and centrifugal loads due to the high rotating speed of the motor have signicant inuences on the reaction force; the appropriate swash plate angle can eliminate the uctuation of the reaction force. The characteristic equation of the hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper has been established including the effects of geometrical parameters, such as the clearance (h2), the damping length (l1) and the supporting length (l2) between the piston and cylinder bore. The load stiffness of the hydrostatic slipper bearing has been investigated. And then the design criterion of the hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper has been derived. The sensitivity analyses of the load-carrying capacity to the geometry of the hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper have been elaborated. The loadcarrying capacity of the hydrostatic slipper bearing is more sensitive to the damping length (l1) than the supporting length (l2), and the short damping length (l1) can enhance the load-carrying capacity. The small clearance (h2) is helpful to improving the adaptive ability to the change of load for the hydrostatic slipper bearing when h1 ranges from 5 to 20 mm. The material screening experiments for the slipper pads sliding against the swash plates have been conducted at a custom-manufactured testing apparatus. The experimental results have indicated that the hydrostatic slipper bearing with an annular orice damper would decrease the possibility of the severe wear between the slipper pad and swash plate in comparison with the hydrostatic-clamping-ratio bearing in the WHAPM, and the CRA laser cladding (compared to the ZrO2 MgO-plasma-sprayed coating and the stainless steel 2Cr13) is a promising candidate as the tribomaterial when sliding against composite materials in water lubrication system. The developed hydrostatic slipper bearing has been successful applied to WHAPM [12]. The WHAPM can be driven by seawater or fresh water with its volumetric efciency reaching approximately 86% under a pressure of 10 MPa. Since December 2002, the WHAPM has been equipped to a brush/grinder driven by a seawater hydraulic power system, which has been operated by an underwater engineering team. Those demonstrate that the developed bearing has a satisfactory tribolgical performance. Although this hydrostatic slipper bearing has been developed for the WHAPM in this research, the related mechanism could be extended to the design and manufacture of water hydraulic axial piston pumps.

Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions

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1354 S.L. Nie et al. / Tribology International 39 (2006) 13421354 [14] Wang X, Yamaguchi A. Characteristics of hydrostatic bearing/seal parts for water hydraulic pumps and motors. Part 2: on eccentric loading and power losses. Tribol Int 2002;35:43542. [15] Bhushan B. Investigation of material combinations under high load and speed in synthetic seawater. Lubr Eng 1979;35(11):62839. [16] Mens JWM. Friction and wear behavior of 18 polymers in contact with steel in environment of airs and water. Wear 1991;149(12): 25568. [17] Jari RH. Wear resistance of materials in water hydraulics. In: Proceedings of the sixth Scandinavian international conference on uid power, Tampere, Finland, May 2628, 1999. p. 16978. [18] Davim JP, Nuno M, Baptista AM. Effect of carbon bre reinforcement in the frictional behavior of PEEK in a water lubricated environment. Wear 2001;251(112):11004. [19] Wong HC, Umehara N, Kato K. The effect of surface roughness on friction of ceramics sliding in water. Wear 1998;218(2):23743. [20] Wang XL, Kato K. Loads carrying capacity map for the surface texture design of SiC thrust bearing sliding in water. Tribol Int 2003; 36:18997. [21] Ronkainen H, Varjus S, Holmberg K. Tribological performance of different DLC coatings in water-lubricated conditions. Wear 2001;249(34):26771. [22] Xiong DS, Ge SR. Friction and wear properties of UHMWPE/Al2O3 ceramic under different lubricating conditions. Wear 2001;250(112): 2425. [23] Brookes CA, Fagan MJ. The development of water hydraulic pumps using advanced engineering ceramics. In: Proceedings of the fourth Scandinavian international conference on uid power, Tampere, Finland, September 2629, 1995. p. 96577. [24] Terava J, Kuikko T, Vilenius M. Development of seawater hydraulic power pack. In: Proceedings of the fourth Scandinavian international conference on uid power, Tampere, Finland, September 2629, 1995. p. 97891. [25] Li KY, Hooke CJ. A note on the lubrication of composite slippers in water-based axial piston pumps and motors. Wear 1991; 147(2):4317. [26] Yang HY, Yang J, Zhou H. Research on materials of piston and cylinder of water hydraulic pump. Ind Lubr Tribol 2003;55(1):3843. [27] Xu YM. The theory of lubricity and the design matching pair of hydraulic pump and motor. China Machine Press; 1987. [28] Trostman E. Water hydraulics control technology, Danfoss uid power. New York: Marcel Dekker; 1996. [29] Horng JH, Lin JF, Li KY. Effect of surface roughness on steel roller scufng. Wear 1995;184:20312.

that were very helpful for improving the manuscript. The authors were also grateful to Dr. Q.G. Tang for his technical assistance and advice. This research was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50375056). References
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