Surface texture processing for tribological performance improvement of UHMWPE-based water-lubricated bearings
Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
ISSN: 0036-8792
Article publication date: 10 August 2018
Issue publication date: 22 August 2018
Abstract
Purpose
Water-lubricated bearings can significantly reduce the pollution to environment because the traditional oil lubricant is replaced by water in the bearings. The ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) has proven to be effective and reliable for the manufacturing of water-lubricated bearings. However, limited work has been done to address the improvement of the tribological performance of the UHMWPE-based water-lubricated bearings using surface texture processing. This paper aims to investigate the effects of bar-grooved surface on the tribological performance improvement of UHMWPE-based water-lubricated bearings.
Design/methodology/approach
For the first time, the bar grooves were processed on the surfaces of UHMWPE-based water-lubricated bearings. The CBZ-1 friction and wear tester have been used to test the wear and friction performance of the bearing samples. The LI laser interference surface contour graph and the digital microscope have been used to measure the surface morphology of the specimens. The tribological characteristics of the tested bearings were analyzed.
Findings
With bar grooves added on the surfaces of the specimens, the friction coefficient of the specimens were lower than that of the specimens without surface texture processing; the wear quantity of the two kinds of specimens were almost the same; by using the LI laser interference surface contour graph and the digital microscope to measure the surface morphology of the specimens, the furrows of the specimens with bar grooves were narrower and shallower than that of the specimens without bar grooves.
Practical implications
The paper implicates that the surface texture processing using bar grooves can reduce the friction coefficient and prolong the service life of the water-lubricated bearings in practical applications.
Originality/value
This paper fulfills an identified need to provide important theoretical and experimental support to the design of water-lubricated bearings in practical applications.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the reviewers. This project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 51509195 and 51422507) and Yingcai Project of China University of Mining and Technology (No. YC2017001).
Citation
Wu, Z., Sheng, C., Guo, Z., Li, Y., Malekian, R. and Li, Z. (2018), "Surface texture processing for tribological performance improvement of UHMWPE-based water-lubricated bearings", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 70 No. 7, pp. 1341-1349. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-06-2017-0184
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited