BITS PILANI, DUBAI CAMPUS

First Semester 2019–2020

Comprehensive Examination-Part A (Closed Book)

Course Code: DE G513 Date: 24-12-19

Course Title: Tribology Max. Marks: 30
Duration: 75 minutes Weightage: 35%

Notes: 1) Please read the questions carefully 2) Assume suitable missing data, if any 3) Answer to the
point only.

Q1. What do you mean by a Lubricant? What are the components of a lubricant? How 05
does the viscosity of a fluid vary with temperature?
Q2. Draw a shear stress vs shear rate plot for different types of fluids. Also, show the 04
variation of viscosity with shear rate for the various fluids.
Q3. Briefly, describe the mechanism of an elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication system. 03
Q4. With the help of a suitable example, explain the mechanism of an erosive wear. 04
Q5. Define the surface finish symbols shown in figure 1. If a surface has heights and 08
depths as illustrated below in figure 2, evaluate Ra, Rp, Rv, Rt and Rq values (in units
of height):

Figure 1 Figure 2
Q6. What do you understand by gas lubricated bearings? What are its advantages and 06
disadvantages? Also, write the application of gas lubricated bearings.

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 BITS PILANI, DUBAI CAMPUS
First Semester 2019–2020
Comprehensive Examination-Part B (Open Book)

Course Code: DE G513 Date: 24-12-19

Course Title: Tribology Max. Marks: 40
Duration: 105 minutes Weightage: 35%
Q7. A plate, 0.025 mm distant from a fixed plate (see figure 3), moves at 60cm/s and 03
requires a force of 2 N per unit area (i.e. N/m2) to maintain this speed. Determine the
fluid viscosity between the plates.

Figure 3.

Q8. What push P up the incline is needed to move a 230-N block (see figure 4) up the 04
incline at constant speed if k= 0.3?

Figure 4.
Q9. Find the power required to rotate a circular disc of diameter 50 mm at 500 rpm. The 04
circular disc has a clearance of 0.2 mm from the bottom flat plate and the clearance
contains oil of viscosity 1.05 poise.
Q10. An infinitely long non-linear pad bearing of dimensions 50 mm × 200 mm is operating 05
under the film thickness as h= h0×ex with an inlet film thickness of 20µm. Assuming
a constant moving pad velocity of 10m/sec and the viscosity of the oil used to be 5.5cP.
Calculate the maximum pressure in MPa which occurs at a length of 30 mm. The
constants for the integration of Reynolds equation are C1 = -3*10-5 and C2 = 5*107.
Q11. A hydrostatic thrust bearing with a circular step pad has an outside diameter of 400 10
mm and recess diameter of 250 mm. (a) calculate the recess pressure for a thrust load
of 100,000 N, (b) calculate the volumetric flow rate of the oil which will be pumped
to maintain the film thickness of 150 m with an oil viscosity of 30 cP, (c) calculate
the pumping loss and the oil temperature rise. The mass density of the oil is 880 Kg/m3
and its specific heat is 1.88 J/gK.
Q12. A hydrostatic circular pad bearing has an outside radius of 0.1m and circular recess 10
radius of 0.02m. The viscosity of the lubricant used is 30 cP. The oil is supplied to the
bearing by a pump at a constant flow rate of 20 litres/min. Calculate the load capacity
for a uniform film thickness of 100 µm and the percentage increase in the load capacity
if the film thickness is reduced by 10%.
Q13. For the infinitely long Rayleigh step bearing (parallel step slider bearing), calculate 04
the load per unit length. Assume that B1 = 0.6B, B2 = 0.4B, B= 0.2 m, h2 = 15 m,
height of the step is 5 m, lubricant viscosity is  = 0.005 Pas and surface velocity is
U = 10 m/s.

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