Investigation on MoS_2 and Graphite Coatings and Their Effects on the Tribological Properties of the Radial Spherical Plain Bearings

With constant enlargement of the application areas of the spherical plain bearings,higher quality lubrication of the bearings is required.To solve the lubricating problems of spherical plain bearings under high temperature,high vacuum,high speed,heavy loads and strong oxidation conditions,it is urgent for us to develop more excellent self-lubricating technologies.In this paper,the bonded solid lubricant coatings,which use inorganic phosphate as the binder,the mixture of MoS2 and graphite with two different weight proportions as the solid lubricant,are prepared by spraying under three different spray gun pressures.The bonding strength tests on the coatings show that the best spraying pressure is 0.2 MPa and the better mixing proportion of MoS2 to Graphite is 3：1.Then for the radial spherical plain bearings with steel/steel friction pair,after the coatings are made on the inner ring outer surfaces,the friction coefficient,the wear loss and the friction temperature of the bearings under four oscillating frequencies are investigated by a self-made tribo-tester.The test results,SEM of the worn morphologies and EDS of worn areas show that tribological properties of the bearing are obviously improved by the bonded solid lubricant coatings.When sprayed under the spray gun pressure of 0.2 MPa,the bearings have better anti-friction and anti-wear properties than those sprayed under 0.1 MPa and 0.3 MPa.Further as proved from the XPS analysis,between the coating with 3：1 mixing ratio of MoS2 to Graphite and the coating with 1：1 ratio,the former has less oxidation occurred on the surface and therefore has better tribological characteristics than the latter.This paper provides a reference to developing a new product of the radial spherical plain bearings with high bonding strength,oxidation resistance and abrasion resistance.

Real Time Application of Bearing Wear Prediction Model Using Intelligent Drilling Advisory System

The real-time prediction of bearing wear for roller cone bits using the Intelligent Drilling Advisory system （IDAs） may result in better performance in oil and gas drilling operations and reduce total drilling cost. IDAs is a real time engineering software and being developed for the oil and gas industry to enhance the performance of complex drilling processes providing meaningful analysis of drilling operational data. The prediction of bearing wear for roller cone bits is one of the most important engineering modules included into IDAs to analyze the drilling data in real time environment. The Bearing Wear Prediction module in IDAs uses a newly developed wear model considering drilling parameters such as weight on bit （WOB）, revolution per minute （RPM）, diameter of bit and hours drilled as a function of International Association of Drilling Contractors （IADC） bit bearing wear. The drilling engineers can evaluate bearing wear status including cumulative wear of roller cone bit in real time while drilling, using this intelligent system and make a decision on when to pull out the bit in time to avoid bearing failure. The wear prediction module as well as the intelligent system has been successfully tested and verified with field data from different wells drilled in Western Canada. The estimated cumulative wears from the analysis match close with the corresponding field values.

Comparison of microstructure and property of high chromium bearing steel with and without nitrogen addition

Microstructure and property of bearing steel with and without nitrogen addition were investigated by microstructural observation and hardness measurement after different heat treatment processing. Based on the microstructural observation of both 9Cr18 steel and X90N steel, it was found that nitrogen addition could effectively reduce the amount and size of coarse carbides and also refine the original austenite grain size. Due to addition of nitrogen, more austenite phase was found in X90N steel than in 9Cr18 steel. The retained austenite of X90N steel after quenching at 1050℃ could be reduced from about 60% to about 7 9% by cold treatment at -73℃ and subsequent tempering, and thus finally increased the hardness up to 60 HRC after low temperature tempering and to 63 HRC after high temperature tempering. Furthermore, both the wear and corrosion resistance of X90N steel were found much more superior than those of 9Cr18 steel, which was attributed to the addition of nitrogen. It was proposed at last that nitrogen alloying into the high chromium bearing steel was a promising way not only to refine the size of both carbides and austenite, but also to achieve high hardness, high wear property and improved corrosion resistance of the stainless bearing steel.

Contact Behavior of Worn Bearings with Elastoplastic Functionally Graded Coating Based on Mixed Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication

The dynamic contact behavior of worn bearings with elastoplastic functionally graded coating is studied,and the interacting effect between worn band and functionally graded surface is analyzed.The surface deformation and roughness are included in the film thickness.The mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication combined with point contact model is introduced to analyze the oil pressure in the contact zone.By using the Fourier transform method and Papkovich-Neuber potential function,the displacements and stress fields in the elastoplastic functionally graded coating are obtained.The second-order central difference method is used to solve the Reynolds equation.It is found that the repeated surface interaction can result in the sharp increase in pressure in bearings,and the oil pressure increases with increasing graded index.The entrainment of oil in the inlet and outlet zones becomes more evident if a large graded index is selected.