THE STATE OF COMPRESSOR LUBRICATION AS MEASURED BY CONTACT RESISTANCE DURING TWO TRANSIENT TESTS

摘要

Understanding the state of lubrication in refrigeration compressors is fundamental for identifying causes of compressor failure. This article will discuss a practical method for measuring the contact resistance between the shoe and swashplate sliding contacts of a mobile air conditioning swashplate compressor. The contact resistance between the shoe and swashplate can be used to indicate the degree of metal-to-metal contact between the sliding surfaces in the compressor. The results of measurements made on the compressor with oil return shut off and during slugging start up events are presented. The results demonstrated that the contact resistance method is a practical research and development technique and it shows surprising behavior during oil shut off tests. In addition, results of dynamic pressure measurements taken within the compressor swashplate cavity are presented. The latter results show promise for this technique as a diagnostic tool for production compressors.