Archive for November, 2009

FATIGUE AND WEAR IN A JOURNAL BEARING

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

bearingsFATIGUE AND WEAR IN A JOURNAL BEARING (during start-up and boundary lubrication)

When two bodies are pressed together contact stresses occur. The results of the work done in this area are due to Hertz and are referred to as Hertzian stresses. Two special cases of hertzian stresses are: contacting spheres and contacting cylinders. An example of contacting spheres would be a single row ball bearing, with a single ball contacting the inner surface of the inner or outer race. An example of contacting cylinders would be a Read more…

High-Strength Tungsten Alloys

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

advanced-metalsIn a recent article in the crankshaft section of the website, I discussed very briefly the methods by which heavy metal counterweighting can be added to crankshafts. Heavy metal is the common term, but a more technically correct description would be dense metal, and these are generally tungsten alloys.

The picture which accompanied the aforementioned article showed additional counterweighting mass in the form of cylinders or slugs of tungsten pressed into place in each counterweight. There are some advantages to this Read more…

Taking charge

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

ecu-emsEven as a boy I was continually mystified, and occasionally perplexed, by the operation of the carburettor. The myriad of main jets, air correction jets and emulsion tubes and the science on the fixed jet DCOE was a veritable minefield for the inexperienced, but once mastered, the satisfaction of getting an engine to start let alone run sweetly on the road or track, was reward in itself. The arrival of electronic fuel injection with its altogether totally different approach was greeted with relief more than any other emotion, not least because it solved the perennial problem of under bonnet packaging of large carburettors. But although the fuel could be

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