research Bearing

Oscillating Thrust Bearing

at Fuel Lubrication
Measurement and simulation
As part of an FVV research project (ref. no. 920) tests were conducted on a diesel injection pump’s oscillating self-
aligning thrust bearing at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. Combining tests under mixed and boundary
lubrication conditions with simulation of the contact conditions deepened knowledge and understanding of the
tribological processes that occur.

48 MTZ 12I2009 Volume 70

1 Introduction
Tribosystems in injection pumps are fre-
quently lubricated with low viscosity
fuels such as diesel, kerosene or gasoline.
The buildup of a fully supporting hydro-
dynamic lubricant film throughout the
entire duty cycle is frequently no longer
guaranteed when oscillating sliding mo-
tion is additionally present in the tribo-
system. Boundary lubrication conditions
characterized by distinct solid body con-
tacts between the friction partners ap-
pear primarily at the motion’s reversal
points where the hydrodynamically ef-
fective velocity becomes zero and at high
loads. The development of stable bounda-
ry layers at the surfaces of the friction
bodies during the friction process pre-
vents strong adhesive bond forces be-
tween the friction bodies and the result-
ing higher adhesive wear. Protective
boundary layers develop when additives
or aging products are present in the lub-
ricant, which can bond to the surfaces
chemically or physically.
The objective of this research project
was to investigate the boundary lubrica-
tion processes in an oscillating thrust
bearing and create a simulation model
that allows simulating the friction. The
tests were conducted on an oscillation
Figure 1: Oscillation test bench
test bench with different diesel fuels, ma- The Authors
terial combinations and test parameters.
Dipl.-Ing.
2 Test Bench and Test Specimen Thomas Illner
is scientific assistant
The test bench for oscillating sliding mo- at the chair for
tions depicted in Figure 1 was designed Machine elements
and set up to conduct the tests. The test and Tribology at the
bench has two servohydraulic test cylin- University Magdeburg
ders that may be operated both load and (Germany).
position controlled. This makes it possi-
ble to represent realistic load and mo-
tion cycles with a maximum load of Dr.-Ing. Lars Bobach
8 kN and stroke of 20 mm at up to is scientific assistant
100 Hz. The test specimen is supplied at the chair for
with lubricant through a circuit. The Machine elements
flow rate and the temperature can be and Tribology at the
varied to adjust the test conditions to University Magdeburg
the conditions in the injection pump. To (Germany).
analyze the tests, the forces occurring,
the cylinder strokes and the tempera-
tures are captured high resolved with a Dr.-Ing. Dirk Bartel
sampling rate of 5 kHz. is chief engineer at
Parts of original injection pumps are the chair for Machine
employed as test specimens. Their out- elements and Tribol-
lines were modified by means of wire ogy at the University
and sinker electrical discharge machin- Magdeburg (Germany).
ing so that they may be employed in the
test bench, Figure 2 and Table. The low en-
ergy input during the electrical discharge Prof. Dr.-Ing.
machining eliminated the possibility of Ludger Deters
is executive board
of the Institute for
Machine Design and
head of the chair for
Machine elements
and Tribology at the
University Magdeburg
(Germany).
MTZ Peer Review
The Seal of Approval
for scientific articles
in MTZ.
Reviewed by experts from research
and industry.
Received . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 20, 2009
Reviewed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 24, 2009
Accepted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 6, 2009
research
Figure 2: Geometry of the oscillating self-aligning sliding contact
thermal warping and changes of the ma-
terial structure.
3 Simulation Model
The simulation model is divided in a mi-
croscopic and a macroscopic level,
­Figure 3. The macroscopic level includes
the calculation of the non-stationary hy-
drodynamics of the oscillating thrust
bearing. While conserving the mass bal-
ance, it incorporates the formation of
cavitation regions as well as the depend-
ence of the lubricant’s viscosity on pres-
sure, temperature and shear, elastic de-
formations of the friction bodies, bounda­
ry and mixed lubrication conditions in-
cluding solid body contacts and the in-
fluence of the microhydrodynamic ef-
fects of rough sliding surfaces. In addi-
tion, the bodies of the oscillating sliding
contact and thus their motion and defor-
mation are modeled individually.
The microscopic level is used to re-
gard the surface asperities in the bounda­
ry and mixed lubrication region. The
surface asperities influence both the de-
velopment of the real contact surface be-
tween the friction bodies and the micro-
hydrodynamic effects that can act to fa-
cilitate or impede the formation of the
lubricant film. The knowledge of the real
contact area allows the calculation of the
ratios of solid body contact pressure and
boundary friction. In principle, the ge-
ometry of the lubricating gap can be de-
scribed down to the scale of the asperi-
ties [2, 3]. However, this requires resolv-
ing the calculation region very finely.
Given the planar contact of 201 mm2,
this was impracticable at present. An al-
50 MTZ 12I2009 Volume 70
Bearing
ternative was furnished by the concept
of flow factors [4] and an integral solid
body contact pressure curve, which act
on the macrohydrodynamic solutions
for the smooth surfaces as correction val-
ues. With these curves it is possible to
connect the microscopic and the macro-
scopic level.
3.1 Macrohydrodynamics
In keeping with Eq. (1), the basis of mac-
rohydrodynamic simulation is the gener-
alized Reynolds differential equation for
a fluid with non-Newtonian flow charac-
teristics for a time-variable height of the
lubricating gap and variable density and
dynamic viscosity [5]. The coefficients
G1x, G1y, G2x, G3 and F0x can be taken from
[6]. The pressure flow factors Φp and the
shear flow factor Φs deliver the influence
of the surface asperities on the macrohy-
drodynamic flow. Conserving the mass
balance, the validity of Eq. (1) extends
over the entire calculation region of the
lubricating gap and thus includes pres-
sure and cavitation regions. Cavitation is
produced whenever enlarging lubricat-
Table: Data of the self-aligning thrust bearing
Feature
Length of the polygon ring
Width of the polygon ring
Diameter of the circular pad
Convexity of the polygon ring in x-direction
Convexity of the polygon ring in y-direction
Convexity of the circular pad in x- and y-direction
Stroke
ing gaps cannot be filled with lubricant
quickly enough.
A gap fill factor θ, which expresses the
ratio off the lubricant volume Vliq to the
total volume Vges = Vliq + Vgas in the cavita-
tion region with 0 ≤ θ ≤ 1, is introduced
to allow for mass conserving cavitation.
The geometry of the friction bodies is
represented by the height of the gap h.
The thrust bearing is modeled self-align-
ing with centric or eccentric pivoted cir-
cular pad, Figure 2. The height of the gap
h links the macrohydrodynamics and
elastic deformation of the friction bod-
ies. Thereto, flexibility matrices derived
from the FEM are incorporated, which
are calculated separately for both speci-
mens. In the boundary and mixed lubri-
cation region, the external load is split
into hydrodynamic and solid contact
area ratios. To do so, the integral solid
body contact pressure curve is incorpo-
rated in the calculation model as a func-
tion of a mean deformed height of the
gap [7]. Iterative solver methods and mul-
tigrid techniques that accelerate the re-
laxation process are employed to solve
the system’s nonlinear equations.
3.2 Microhydrodynamics
If the heights of the lubricating gap are
in the range of the friction bodies’ sur-
face asperities, influences from microhy-
drodynamic effects on the development
of hydrodynamic pressure have to be al-
lowed for and the external load has to be
distributed proportionately to the lubri-
cant film and the solid body.
Expanding on the work of Patir and
Cheng [4], the flow factors for various
heights of the lub­ricating gap are pro-
jected on the basis of real measured sur-
face topographies and solid body con-
Symbol Value
L 21 mm
B 20 mm
D 16 mm
δx1 5.92 ... 19.70 μm
δy1 3.65 ... 17.11 μm
δx2 = δy2 0.28 ... 0.81 μm
sosz ± 2.5 mm

Figure 3: Structure of the simulation model
tacts, microcavitation with mass conser-
vation and elastic-plastic deformations
of the rough surfaces [8]. The integral
solid body contact pressure curve is de-
termined at the same time.
3.3 Friction Simulation
The friction in the boundary and mixed
lubrication region results from a super-
imposition of fluid and boundary fric-
tion, the percentage of fluid friction in
the boundary lubrication region ap-
proaching zero. The friction force is cal-
culated according to Eq. (2). The hydrody-
namic friction force Ffh results from the
lubricant shear. The friction force of the
boundary lubrication Ffs is calculated
with a friction model as described in [6].
In this model, the total of the friction
forces caused by elastic-plastic deforma-
tions of the asperities and adhesion be-
tween the asperity contacts yields the
boundary friction. The adhesion compo-
nent is determined with a model based
on [2]. Both components are calculated
on the microscopic level at measured
surfaces of the run-in test specimens and,
like the flow factors and the integral sol-
id body contact pressure curve, this is
integrated in the equation as a function
of the gap height.
4 Test Program and Results
The boundary lubrication tests were in-
tended to reproduce the conditions in
the injection pump as precisely as possi-
ble. Therefore, in addition to original
pump components, three representative
fuel pump operating points were select-
ed for load, stroke and velocity. Figure 4
Figure 4:
Normal force
and hydro­
dynamically
effective
­velocity for
one cycle
presents typical load and velocity charac-
teristics in standardized form. The stroke
in all the operating points is ± 2.5 mm.
Since the formation of the boundary
layer and the aging of the lubricant are
strongly dependent on the temperature,
tests were conducted with lubricant tem-
peratures of 80 and 120 °C. Further-
more, a diesel fuel compliant with DIN
EN 590 without rapeseed methyl ester
(RME) and a limit diesel fuel (GDK) with
and without 5 % RME (GDK and GDK
plus 5 % RME) were tested to evaluate
the influence of the lubricant. The test
time was set at 72 h. The results for the
material combination of a pad made of
100Cr6 and a polygonal ring made of
16MnCrS5 with a nitrocarburized sur-
face are presented below as an example.
4.1 Test Specimen Run-in
Every test combination was run in for
15 min at 2000 N, 10 Hz and the test-spe-
cific fuel temperature. Figure 5 contains
the run-in characteristics of the test com-
bination with the different fuels. Fig-
ure 5, left, individually presents the char-
acteristics of the maximum friction forc-
es for both directions of oscillation. The
GDK does not contain any additives that
facilitate formation of a boundary layer.
The friction slowly decreases and the tem-
perature increase in the pad is the high-
est of all the fuels.
The diesel compliant with DIN EN 590
without RME exhibited similarly high
friction at the start. However, additizing
the fuel enables a boundary layer to form
faster. Lubrication with GDK and 5 %
RME had the best effect on run-in, since
fatty acid ester are able to bond to metal-
lic surfaces very well [9].
4.2 Results of Friction Measurement
Figure 6 presents the results for the fuel
compliant with DIN EN 590 for different
operating parameters. As expected, both
the fuel temperature and the operating
parameters have an influence on the fric-
tion force characteristic as indicated on
the left in Figure 6. Thus, friction forces
similar to those that appear at 2000 N,
10 Hz and 80 °C were measured in the
test with 6000 N, 17 Hz and 80 °C after a
runtime of approximately 10 h. However,
this looks different at a fuel temperature
of 120 °C. As the load and frequency in-
crease, the friction force also increases.
MTZ 12I2009 Volume 70 51
research
The fuel’s characteristics at high tempera­
tures explain why the friction forces are
higher for the tests at 120 °C than the
tests for 80 °C. In addition to the already
high inlet temperature of the fuel of
120 °C, the fuel in the contact is heated
further by frictional heat. The tempera-
ture level produced likely interferes with
the development of the boundary layer.
The decrease in friction as the test time
advances can be explained with the ag-
ing of the fuel, since it produces aging
products that consequently enhance the
lubricating effect. Figure 6, right,
presents the characteristic of the coeffi-
cients of friction.
Figure 7 presents the results for the dif-
ferent fuels at 6000 N and 17 Hz for 80 °C
(left) and 120 °C (right). At an identical
inlet temperature, similar characteristics
and levels manifest themselves in each
case. However, in contrast to the other
fuels, substantially higher wear was
measured with GDK in both cases. All
the tests exhibited higher friction and
substantially higher wear at the higher
52 MTZ 12I2009 Volume 70
Bearing
fuel temperature. Additizing the GDK
with 5 % RME does not automatically
lead to a more significant decrease of
friction than the test with GDK without
RME. However, there is substantially less
wear. This indicates that higher friction
does not automatically cause higher
wear, because wear only occurs if the
boundary layers are destroyed locally
during the friction process.
5 Thrust Bearing Simulation
The exact quantities of a test run on the
oscillation test bench were utilized in
the simulation to facilitate a comparison
of measurement and calculation. The
data of an operating point with 6000 N,
17 Hz and 80 °C was employed as the
load and motion characteristic. The con-
tact pair is lubricated with diesel compli-
ant with DIN EN 590. The flow factors,
the integral solid body contact pressure
curve and the boundary friction were
calculated for measured surfaces of the
Figure 5: Run-in
characteristics
of the material
combination
100Cr6/16MnCrS5
at 2000 N, 10 Hz
and 80 °C
run-in friction bodies. Since, the friction
bodies have convexities in a certain
range, Table, the convexities of the speci-
mens employed were determined pre-
cisely and incorporated in the model.
The circular pad was calculated with cen-
tric pivoting.
5.1 Results of Simulation
Figure 8 presents the integral results of the
calculation for one oscillation cycle. As ex-
pected, the characteristic of the maximum
pressure follows the predetermined char-
acteristic of the load. The solid contact ar-
ea ratio reveals that the contact pair oper-
ates in the boundary and mixed lubrica-
tion region all the time. The ramped load
increase at the start of the cycle causes a
hydrodynamic pressure buildup, which
can be attributed to the effects of hydrody-
namic squeeze. The solid contact area ra-
tio briefly drops back to approximately
84 % before increasing again and slightly
dropping again shortly before the end of
the high load phase because of the im-
proved hydrodynamic conditions brought
Figure 6: Compar-
ison of friction
force and coeffi-
cient of friction
for different oper-
ating points and
fuel temperatures
when lubricated
with diesel EN 590
 Figure 7: Comparison
of the friction force
for different lubri-
cants at 80 °C (left)
and at 120 °C (right)
at 6000 N and 17 Hz

about by the tipping of the pad while the
velocity simultaneously increases. The
rapid decrease in load during the transi-
tion from the high to low load range caus-
es the hydrodynamic pressures to collapse.
The rebound of the friction bodies caused
by the high solid body contact pressure is
a reason for this. This causes the height of
the lubricating gap to enlarge rapidly. The
lubricant is unable to flow back into the
freed up space fast enough from outside.
The lubricant film ruptures, thus produc-
ing a large-area cavitation region, which is
indicated by the stark drop in the mean
gap fill factor to a value of 55 %.
Figure 9 presents the total pressure and
gap fill factor recorded instantaneously
for two times. The pressure distribution
in the high load range at t1 = 0.006 s is
primarily shaped by the solid body con-
tact pressure. A smaller cavitation region,
which primarily results from the tipping
of the pad, exists at the contact end. As
expected, a much lower pressure appears
in the low load range at t2 = 0.042 s. The
aforementioned large-area cavitation re-
gion is distinctly recognizable here.
5.2 Comparison of
Measurement and Calculation
Calculation and measurement may be
compared by comparing the measured
and simulated friction force characteris-

Figure 8: Integral
results of the simula-
tion at 6000 N, 17 Hz
and 80 °C

MTZ 12I2009 Volume 70 53

research
Figure 9: Instantaneous total pressure and gap fill factor recorded for the two times t1 and t2
tics. The comparison of the friction force
characteristics for one duty cycle in
­Figure 10 yields a qualitatively and quan-
titatively good correspondence. An in-
crease of the friction force at the start of
the oscillation cycle, which results from
the ramped increase in load, is easily
recognizable in the characteristics. The
hydrodynamic pressures from the
squeeze, which are effective in this
range, produce a sinusoidal characteris-
tic of the increase in the friction force
and are reproduced equally by simula-
tion and measurement.
The maximum friction forces also dis-
play a good correspondence. Deviations
exist at the reversal points where the de-
formations of the test specimen holder
and its inertia cause a delayed friction
force reversal in the measurement sig-
nal. Other differences appear in the low
load range. Among other things, they
can be attributed to the load cell having
reached its lower measurement limit.
6 Summary
The objective of the FVV research
project (ref. no. 920) at Otto von Guer-
icke University Magdeburg was to deep-
54 MTZ 12I2009 Volume 70
Bearing
en knowledge about the tribological
processes occurring in a diesel injec-
tion pump’s thrust bearing under
mixed and boundary lubrication condi-
tions and make it possible to simulate
this tribosystem. A test bench was devel-
oped which can be used to test the oscil-
lating self-aligning thrust bearing un-
der realistic conditions.
The influence of load, sliding veloci-
ty, temperature and lubricant on the
development of a boundary layer that
reduces friction and wear were investi-
gated in tests with different materials
and fuels. It was possible to identify the
operating conditions under which a sta-
ble bounda­ry layer develops and the
time at which the boundary layer can
be expected to fail in conjunction with
increased friction and increased wear.
In parallel, a simulation model for the
transiently loaded thrust bearing was de-
veloped. While conserving the mass bal-
ance, it incorporates the formation of
cavitation regions as well as the depend-
ence of the lubricant’s viscosity on pres-
Figure 10: Com-
parison of calcu-
lated and meas-
ured friction
force at 6000 N,
17 Hz and 80 °C
 __ ∂
( 
​ ∂x  ​ ​ Φxx
p
∂ph
G1x ___ )
​ ∂x  ​  ​+ __
∂
( 
​ ∂y  ​ ​ Φyy
p
∂ph
G1y ___ )
​ ∂y  ​  ​=
 Eq. (1)
__ ∂
(  (u2 – u1)
​ ∂x  ​ ​ θG2x ______
​  F    
0x
(u2 – u1)
s ______
​ + θG3 u1 + θG3 Φxx ​  2h    ​  ​+ __
∂
)
​ ∂t  ​(θG3)
Acknowledgements
with ph > pcav and θ = 1 in pressure region This paper is the scholarly outcome of the
­research project “Boundary Lubrication in
ph = pcav and θ < 1 in cavitation region Fuel Lubrication” (ref. no. 920) formulated by
The German Research Association for Com-
Ff = ∫∫Ffh (x, y) + Ffs (x, y) dΩ Eq. (2) bustion Engines (FVV, Frankfurt) and carried
(Ω)
out at the Department of Mechanical Engi-
neering headed by Prof. Ludger Deters at Otto
von Guericke University Magdeburg. The
study was financially supported by the Fed-
eral Ministry of Economics and Technology
(BMWi) through the German Federation of
sure, temperature and shear, elastic de- References Industrial Research Associations (AiF) and
formations of the friction bodies, bounda­ [1] Bartel, D.: Berechnung von Festkörper-
the FVV’s own funds. The project received
ry and mixed lubrication conditions in- und ­Mischreibung bei Metallpaarungen.
support from an FVV working group headed
Dissertation, Otto-von-Guericke-Uni-
cluding solid body contacts and the in- by Dr. Johannes Müllers from Robert Bosch
versität Magdeburg, 2000
fluence of the microhydrodynamic ef- GmbH. The authors wish to thank this working
[2] Solovyev, S.: Reibungs- und Temperaturberechnung
fects of rough sliding surfaces. A friction an Festkörper- und Mischreibungskontakten. group for its tremendous support as well as
model was integrated to predict the ex- ­Dissertation, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Robert Bosch GmbH for its generous contri-
pected friction forces. It separately simu- Magdeburg, 2006 bution of material and equipment.
lates the fluid friction, the deformation [3] Scholz, U.: Instationäre Berechnung geschmierter
Reibkontakte. Dissertation, Otto-von-Guericke-
component of dry friction and the adhe-
­Universität Magdeburg, 2008 [7] Bobach, L.: Simulation dynamisch belasteter Radial-
sion component of friction. [4] Patir, N.; Cheng, H. S.: Application of Average ­ gleitlager unter Mischreibungsbedingungen. Disserta-
The comparison of test and simulation Flow Model to Lubrication Between Rough Sliding tion, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, 2008
reveals a qualitatively and quantitatively Surfaces. In: Journal of Lubrication Technology 101 [8] Illner, Th.; Bobach, L.; Bartel, D.; Deters, L.: Einfluss
good correspondence. Thus, a program is (1979), pp. 220 – 230 von Randbedingungen und Mikrokavitation auf die
now available with which an oscillating [5] Bobach, L.; Bartel, D.; Deters, L.: Simulation ­elasto- Flussfaktorenberechnung. In: Tribologie und
hydrodynamischer Kontakte in Rollenlagern. Schmierungstechnik 55 (2008), Nr. 5, S. 36 – 42
self-aligning thrust bearing can be de-
In: VDI-Berichte 2069, Düsseldorf, S. 53 – 65 [9] Matzke, M.; Litzow, U.; Jess, A.; Caprozzi, R.;
signed and optimized under mixed and [6] Bartel, D.: Simulation von Reibpaarungen. Habili­ ­Balfour, G.: Diesel Lubricity Requirements of Future
boundary lubrication conditions and the tationsschrift (eingereicht), Otto-von-Guericke- Fuel Injection Equipment. In: SAE World Congress
friction that will occur can be estimated. Universität Magdeburg, 2009 & Exhibition, USA, April 2009

MTZ 12I2009 Volume 70 55