In situ Measurement of Journal Bearing Lubricant Viscosity by Means of a Novel Ultrasonic Measurement Technique Using Matching Layer

ABSTRACT

An ultrasonic viscometer was used to measure the circumferential viscosity variation in a journal bearing noninvasively. This sensing technique is based on the reflection of a shear wave at a solid–liquid boundary that depends on the viscosity of the liquid and the acoustic properties of the solid. Very little ultrasonic energy can propagate into the oil at a metal–oil interface because the acoustic mismatch is significant. Interleaving a matching layer between the metal and the lubricant enables accurate ultrasonic viscosity measurements (M. Schirru, et al., Tribology Leters, Vol. 60, No. 3, 2015). This technique has been used to build a miniaturized ultrasonic viscometer that is accommodated inside a journal to obtain the circumferential viscosity profile. Four viscosity regions are identified due to the variations in the localized temperatures and loads. The results are compared with the isothermal solution of the Reynolds equations for hydrodynamic lubricated bearings. The ultrasonic viscometer locates the angle at which the maximum load occurs and the length of the loaded contact with good accuracy. Finally, the viscosity results are used to estimate the frictional power losses. It is shown that over 70% of the total losses in the journal bearing occur in the region where the load is maximum.

KEYWORDS:

• Ultrasound
• viscosity
• journal bearing
• in situ
• condition monitoring