Steven Kaiser
Project Engineer
ME
Shawn Avery
Team Facilitator
ME
Josh Plumeau
Lead Engineer
ME
Steven Lucchesi
Team Lead
ME
The Dresser Rand ESH-1 air compressor utilizes a floating ring journal bearing as its
main crank bearing. A floating ring journal bearing is unique in that it houses an
intermediate ring between the shaft and sleeve housing, providing a means of
reducing relative sliding speeds between the respective bearing surfaces and thus
power loss. Group P13453 focused on health monitoring of the bearing within the
compressor through vibration measurements and wireless technology. This rig takes
the next step by completely isolating the journal bearing vibration characteristics from
those of the compressor to provide more accurate bearing measurements which will
be used for bearing health monitoring and failure detection research.
Luke Trapani
Lubrication Engineer
ME
The objective of this project was to design a dynamic similarity test rig to replicate the
operating conditions of the main crank bearing in the Dresser-Rand ESH-1 air
compressor in the Mechanical Engineering machine shop including such
characteristics as oil temperature and pressure, dimensional equivalences, dynamic
load profiles, and shaft speed. This test rig will ultimately provide further research
into journal bearing operation and serve as a means for journal bearing failure
detection in the ESH-1 compressor.
Load Actuation System
System design consisted of
understanding system architecture in
order to identify critical subsystems.
The critical subsystems for the test rig
were determined to be the load
application system, test bearing,
structural support system, control
system, lubrication system, drivetrain
system, and power system, in that
order of importance. This subsystem
identification was key for determining
system componentry. During this
phase, two axis load actuation was still
a primary concern. Desired
considerations and outcomes of the
system design phase were:
Whereas system design was focused on
what the test rig consists of, detailed
design takes these components and
determines what the final structure will
look like. The most significant issue to
be addressed from the subsystem design
was redesign of the load application
system. For cost and time constraints,
and single axis, mechanical lever
loading system was chosen to replicate
to max load exhibited within the ESH-1
compressor. Desired considerations and
outcomes of the detailed design phase
were:
•
MSD II Budget/Time Constraints
•
Customer Needs & Specifications
•
Customer Needs & Specifications
•
Risk Assessment
•
Detailed Engineering Analysis
•
High Level Engineering Analysis
•
Complete Design
•
Critical Subsystem Identification
•
CAD Part & Drawing Package
•
Concept Development/Selection
•
Complete Load Actuation Redesign
•
MSD II Readiness & Build Plan
As this was a large-scale first iteration project, a considerable amount of
manufacturing took place during the build phase. The work was distributed among
team members with assistance from faculty technicians in the RIT machine shop.
DDR CAD Rig Design
Testing was done to prove system functionality. Testing consisted of:
• Shaft drive motor & motor controller
• Shaft Encoder Feedback & Accuracy
• Test Bearing Assembly Load Cell Feedback and Accuracy
• Shaft Run-out
• Lubrication System
• Leaks
• Temperature
• Flow Rate
• Pressure
The MSD II phase of this project involved comprehensive problem solving and subsystem redesign using the six step problem solving process shown above. Major
design changes included modifying the orientation of the bearing lubrication
supply/return hoses, as well as switching out direct drive for a belt and pulley drive
system to better utilize the DC motor’s available torque. The end result was a
complete test rig capable of replicating journal bearing operating conditions under
static loading with the ability to adapt to a dynamic loading system in the future.
Exiting this project, the P14453 team not only is knowledgeable on all aspects of the
design and manufacturing process through both MSD I & II, but has also gained a
comprehensive understanding of journal bearing design and operation.
INSERT
COMPLETE
SYSTEM
PHOTO HERE
Piezoelectric Actuators
The future of this test rig will consist primarily of the design
and implementation of a two-axis dynamic loading system for
future iteration MSD projects. The current test rig has been
designed in a way that implementing such a system will be
possible without any major modifications. Other additions
will include additional sensor implementation for bearing
vibrations, and journal to sleeve clearance, as well as
updates and improvements to the current system.
William Nowak
Scott Delmotte
Dr. Stephen Boedo
Robert Kraynik
David Hathaway
Klein Steel
Dr. Jason Kolodziej
James Sorokes
Dr. Mark Kempski
Jan Maneti
Mark Smith
Rob Wilkie