High-performance plain bearing test bench

The high-performance plain bearing test rig is one of the most modern and powerful in the world. It is of great benefit for the continuous improvement of the development process (calculation and simulation process) of high-speed machines in the field of power generation.

The test rig can be used to determine tribological, fluid mechanical and rotordynamic properties for the development of hydrodynamic plain bearings at high loads and maximum circumferential speeds. During the tests, various bearing parameters such as temperature, pressure, power loss and oil throughput are determined. Furthermore, the minimum lubrication gap height and the dynamic stiffness and damping properties of the lubricating film are of great importance. This information is required in order to be able to reliably predict the decisive characteristic values for the design and material selection of high-performance plain bearings in the future. Despite very high speeds, the installed measurement technology can measure the distance between the rotor and the bearing using inductive sensors. This allows specific static and dynamic bearing parameters to be determined.

Key test bench data:

High-load planetary gear bearing test rig at the Institute of Tribology and Energy Conversion Machines