Search Results (4)

This article analyzes statistics on the failure of technological equipment, assemblies, and mechanisms of agricultural (and other) machines associated with the breakdown or failure of gear pumps. It was found that the leading causes of gear pump failures are the opening of gear teeth contact during pump operation, poor assembly, wear of bushings, thrust washers, and gear teeth. It has also been found that there is a problem related to the restoration, repair, and manufacture of parts in the conditions of enterprises serving the agro-industrial complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan (AIC RK). This is due to the lack of necessary technological equipment, tools, and instruments, as well as centralized repair and restoration bases equipped with the required equipment. This work proposes to solve this problem by applying AM technologies to the repair and manufacture of parts for agricultural machinery and equipment. The study results on the stress–strain state of support bushings under various pressures are presented, showing that a fully filled bushing has the lowest stresses and strains. It was also found that bushings with 50% filling and fully filled bushings have similar stress and strain values under the same pressure. The difference between them is insignificant, especially when compared to bushings with lower filling. This means that filling the bushing by more than 50% does not provide a significant additional reduction in stresses. In terms of material and printing time savings, 50% filling may also be the optimal option. Full article

The possibility of reinforcing polymeric matrices with multifunctional fillers for improving structural and functional properties is widely exploited. The compatibility between the filler and the polymeric matrix is crucial, especially for high filler content. In this paper, polymeric matrices of Nylon 6,6 with pyrene chains were successfully synthesized to improve the compatibility with carbonaceous fillers. The compatibility was proven using graphite as a carbonaceous filler. The different properties, including thermal stability, crystallinity, morphology, and local mechanical properties, have been evaluated for various filler contents, and the results have been compared to those of synthetic Nylon 6,6 without pyrene chain terminals. XRD results highlighted that the compatibilization of the composite matrix may lead to an intercalation of the polymeric chains among the graphite layers. This phenomenon leads to the protection of the polymer from thermal degradation, as highlighted by the thermogravimetric analysis (i.e., for a filler content of 20%, the beginning degradation temperature goes from 357 °C for the non-compatibilized matrix to 401 °C for the compatibilized one and the residual at 750 °C goes from 33% to 67%, respectively. A significant improvement in the interphase properties, as proven via Atomic Force Microscopy in Harmonix mode, leads to a considerable increase in local mechanical modulus values. Specifically, the compatibilization of the matrix hosting the graphite leads to a less pronounced difference in modulus values, with more frequent reinforcements that are quantitatively similar along the sample surface. This results from a significantly improved filler distribution with respect to the composite with the non-compatibilized matrix. The present study shows how the thermoplastic/filler compatibilization can sensitively enhance thermal and mechanical properties of the thermoplastic composite, widening its potential use for various high-performance applications, such as in the transport field, e.g., for automotive components (engine parts, gears, bushings, washers), and electrical and electronics applications (heat sinks, casing for electronic devices, and insulating materials). Full article

This paper presents the effort to reduce friction and wear of gear washers under low-speed and heavy-load conditions by designing the arrangement of surface textures. The influence of distributional parameters of textures on load-bearing capacity and friction coefficient of gear washers are studied numerically to obtain a preferable surface texturing design. Then, experimental tests were carried out to plot the Stribeck curves of the obtained texture arrangement compared with bare surface and another unoptimizable texture distribution arrangement to facilitate the verification of the simulation results. Theoretical predictions illustrate that the annular gear washers with partial surface texturing provide lower friction coefficients than bare washers. Textures having a sector angle of 20°, a coverage angle of 12°, a circumferential number of 8, and a radial number of 6 are selected as the final optimal surface texture distribution design. Experimental results confirm that the obtained texture arrangement moves the Stribeck curve towards the lower left, indicating thickening of oil film thickness and reduction in friction coefficient. In addition, the weight loss caused by wear is also reduced by the optimized texture design. Full article

Components subject to rolling contact fatigue, such as gears and rolling bearings, are among the fundamental machine elements in mechanical and vehicle engineering. Rolling bearings are generally not designed to be fatigue-resistant, as the necessary oversizing is not technically and economically marketable. In order to improve the load-bearing capacity, resource efficiency and application possibilities of rolling bearings and other possible multi-material solid components, a new process chain was developed at Leibniz University Hannover as a part of the Collaborative Research Centre 1153 “Tailored Forming”. Semi-finished products, already joined before the forming process, are used here to allow a further optimisation of joint quality by forming and finishing. In this paper, a plasma-powder-deposition welding process is presented, which enables precise material deposition and control of the welding depth. For this study, bearing washers (serving as rolling bearing raceways) of a cylindrical roller thrust bearing, similar to type 81212 with a multi-layer structure, were manufactured. A previously non-weldable high-performance material, steel AISI 5140, was used as the cladding layer. Depending on the degree of forming, grain-refinement within the welded material was achieved by thermo-mechanical treatment of the joining zone during the forming process. This grain-refinements lead to an improvement of the mechanical properties and thus, to a higher lifetime for washers of an axial cylindrical roller bearing, which were examined as an exemplary component on a fatigue test bench. To evaluate the bearing washers, the results of the bearing tests were compared with industrial bearings and deposition welded axial-bearing washers without subsequent forming. In addition, the bearing washers were analysed micro-tribologically and by scanning acoustic microscopy both after welding and after the forming process. Nano-scratch tests were carried out on the bearing washers to analyse the layer properties. Together with the results of additional microscopic images of the surface and cross-sections, the causes of failure due to fatigue and wear were identified. Full article