The Design Development of the Ocean Color Instrument Precision Superduplex Hybrid Bearing Cartridge

摘要

A high-precision, high-resolution Ocean Color Imaging (OCI) instrument is under development for thePlankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission which requires a pair of medium-speedmechanisms to scan the ocean surface continuously. The design of the rotating telescope (RT) mechanismoperating at 360 RPM and the half-angle mirror (HAM) mechanism synchronized at 180 RPM was concernfor maintaining pointing precision over the required life and continuous operations. An effort was undertakenwith the manufacturer to design and analyze a special bearing configuration to minimize axial and radialrunout, minimize torque, and maintain nominal contact stresses and stiffness over the operatingtemperature range and to maximize life. The bearing design, analysis, development and testing along withthe design-specific technical challenges imposed upon mechanism engineers will be discussed. Bearingperformance, runout as achieved and verified during encoder installation, and operating torque will bedescribed.