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Friction Properties of Journal-bearing-like Conformal Contacts in Microgravity Environment

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Abstract

Friction is a primary failure mode in micro-nano electromechanical systems due to the high surface-to-volume ratio. Microgravity further complicates this issue in journal-bearing-like conformal contacts by promoting irregular disturbances. This paper aims to gain insights into the anti-friction design of journal-bearing-like devices through molecular dynamics simulation. A molecular dynamics model was proposed and the calculation method of the friction force was derived. In the absence of disturbance, the proposed model was compared with a non-conformal model which unfolded the bearing as a plane, and the influence of initial radial clearance and axis inclination on the friction force was investigated. The results showed that the proposed model could present more accurate friction forces than the non-conformal model. The friction force was inversely proportional to the initial clearance, and the axis inclination could reduce the friction force. Regarding disturbances as the superposition of two vibrations perpendicular to each other, in which case the trajectory of the journal was a Lissajous curve, the effects of frequency, stiffness coefficient, amplitude ratio, and frequency ratio were investigated. The results showed that the average friction force increased with the rising frequency in the range of 0.8 ~ 4.8 GHz, then decreased with the further increase of frequency. The average friction force was lowered when the stiffness coefficient increased from 100N/m to 1000N/m. For two representative frequencies, the average friction force exhibited different trends with the amplitude ratio. Except for the case of 1.25, increasing the frequency ratio could reduce the friction force. It seemed that applying a well-designed Lissajous route was a promising way to reduce friction.

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Availability of Data and Materials

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Nanyang Normal University for providing a high-performance GPU workstation, which has greatly facilitated the early proof of concept.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China under Grant 2022YFB3402800, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 52075444, the Key Research and Development and Promotion Special Project of Henan Province under Grant 222102310466, and the Key Scientific and Technological Project of Henan Province under Grant 232102211047.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shaanxi Engineering Laboratory for Transmissions and Controls, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi`an, 710072, China

    Shujia Wan, Bing Han, Ruiting Tong, Jingyan Wang, Baobao Qiang & Menghe Zhou

  2. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang, 473061, China

    Shujia Wan

  3. CALT, China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, Beijing, 100076, China

    Li He

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  1. Shujia Wan
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  2. Bing Han
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  3. Li He
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  7. Menghe Zhou
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Contributions

Shujia Wan wrote the original draft, proposed the calculation method for friction force and performed simulation analysis. Bing Han supervised the work and reviewed the manuscript. Li He contributed in conceptualization and project administration. Ruiting Tong reviewed the manuscript and provided two fundings. Jingyan Wang visualized some results using OVITIO. Baobao Qiang established the molecular dynamics model using LAMMPS. Menghe Zhou validated the method by providing results from a simplified translational model. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Bing Han.

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Wan, S., Han, B., He, L. et al. Friction Properties of Journal-bearing-like Conformal Contacts in Microgravity Environment. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 36, 12 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-024-10096-x

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