Study of Methods for Applying and Enhancing Transfer Film Coatings of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTEE) to Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) High Pressure Oxygen Turbo Pump (HPOTP) Bearings

摘要

Machines were constructed and evaluated for burnishing polytetrafluoroethylene on balls for use in the high pressure oxygen turbopump (HPOTP). The most positive performance was obtained with single-ball burnishing, but one technique for burnishing three balls simultaneously holds promise. Evaluations of the coatings in a HPOTP bearing of earlier design (employed smaller diameter balls) showed very little life enhancement before high torque and ball and race wear initiated. Other coating techniques, such as molybdenum disulfide combined with PTFE transfer films, hold promise for providing the more durable quantities of solid lubricant needed for the bearings.