GeLager
Maintenance-free and low-wear bearing
| Funding: | AiF – German Federation of Industrial Research Associations IGF - Industrial Collective Research |
| Funding code: | IGF number: 18 382 BR/1 |
| Duration: | 10/2014-01/2018 |
| Contact: | Christian Stentzel |
Plain bearings made of high-performance ceramics offer great capability to reduce wear and to create a maintenance-free for oscillating applications in the field of mobile machines. In addition, a cyclical relubrication or a central lubrication can be resigned and bushing changes caused of wear are avoided. The leak of lubricants into the environment is also reduced.
The focus of the project is on the ceramic design, which incorporates the surrounding structure. In particular, surrounding structure but also the bolt has to be adapted to reach a low tensile stress in the ceramic material under load. Parameter studies with the help of the FEM allow to deduce design requirements in according to the criterion of the minimum stress and depending on the bearing size and load as well as the ceramic material. An experimental validation of the ceramic-compatible design confirms a static and dynamic load rating of at least 150 N/mm². Furthermore, a way of a fluid-free and maintenance-free tribology system for ceramic materials is shown, which has a low coefficient of friction of less than 0.1 and no measurable wear. However, a potential for optimization with regard to the possible gliding distance has to be determine. Finally, a calculation rule for dimensioning a ceramic plain bearing is given.
Plain bearings based on high-performance ceramics are therefore a further component in reducing operating costs and increasing the ecological balance of a mobile machine.
