Improving Bearings Thermal and Tribological Performance with Built-In Heat Pipe

A recent experimental investigation revealed that a mechanical face seal with built-in heat pipe can significantly reduce the interfacial contact temperature (Xiao and Khonsari in J Eng Tribol 228(5):498–510, 2014). Further experimental tests are set up to investigate the effect of thermal and lubrication characteristics in a thrust-bearing configuration with built-in heat pipes either in the stationary or in the rotating component. During the tests, the rotating disk slides against the stationary disk in an oil reservoir filled with SAE 10 engine oil. Both disks are made of heat-treated stainless steel 17-4 PH with the same hardness. Rubbing face temperature and surface friction coefficient are measured from both the heat pipe and conventional disk pair and the conventional disk pair. The test results show that both the heat pipe stationary and rotating disks are capable of reducing the temperature and friction coefficient.