EHD Film Thickness Behavior in DMA Bearings. Part I—Experimental and Computational Techniques

Abstract

A technique is described for experimentally determining the EHD film thicknesses in the ball-race contacts in the bearings of a typical dual-bearing despin mechanical assembly (DMA) employed in space satellites, without altering the bearing design or disturbing the normal operating mode of the bearings. The technique involves the measurement of the axial separation of the outer rings of the two bearings, from which the EHD film thicknesses in the ball-inner race and ball-outer race contacts in both bearings may be computed. The instrumentation, method of computation, and some typical results are presented.

Presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting in Dearborn, Michigan, April 17–20, 1978

Notes

Presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting in Dearborn, Michigan, April 17–20, 1978