Foil Thrust Bearing Test Rig for Evaluation of High Temperature Performance and Durability

摘要

A new test rig is designed to evaluate the start-stop cyclic durability of high-temperature solid lubricant coatings applied to foil thrust bearing systems. This test rig also allows the characterization of low speed thrust bearing performance, augmenting existing high speed test capabilities. The Low-Speed Thrust Bearing Rig is designed to test foil thrust bearings at speeds up to 21,000 rpm and temperatures up to 540 deg C (1000 deg F), with variable thrust loads. Thrust bearings can be subjected to tens of thousand of start-stop cycles to simulate decades of service in a turbomachinery application. Initial testing has validated the rig capabilities by subjecting a bearing and thrust runner to more than two thousand start/stop cycles at a temperature of 430 deg C (800 deg F).