SEDL / STP / STP1327-EB / STP12142S

High Temperature Aircraft Turbine Engine Bearing and Lubrication System Development

Grant, DH
Pratt & Whitney, United Technologies, West Palm Beach, Florida

Chin, HA
Pratt & Whitney, United Technologies, West Palm Beach, Florida

Klenke, C
Wright Laboratory, United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio

Galbato, AT
MRC Bearings, A Unit of SKF USA, Jamestown, New York

Ragen, MA
MRC Bearings, A Unit of SKF USA, Jamestown, New York

Spitzer, RF
MRC Bearings, A Unit of SKF USA, Jamestown, New York

Pages: 26    Published: Jan 1998

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Abstract

Results are reported for a project sponsored by the United States Air Force Wright Laboratories entitled “High Temperature Bearing / Lubricant System Development.” The major emphasis of this project was the evaluation of bearing materials with improved corrosion resistance, high hot hardness, and high fracture toughness, intended to meet the requirements of the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technologies (IHPTET) Phase II engine. The project included material property studies on candidate bearing materials and lubricants which formed the selection basis for subscale and full-scale bearing rig verification tests. The carburizing stainless steel alloy Pyrowear 675 demonstrated significant fatigue life, fracture toughness, and corrosion resistance improvements relative to the M50 NiL baseline bearing material. The new Skylube II (MCS-2482) lubricant provided significant thermal degradation improvements with respect to the Skylube 600 (PWA-524, MIL-L-87100) lubricant. Two 130 mm bore Pyrowear 675 hybrid ball bearings with silicon nitride balls were run successfully for 231 hours with Skylube II lubricant at temperatures consistent with IHPTET II requirements.