The importance of automotive turbocharger performance is continuously increasing. However, further gains in efficiency are becoming progressively difficult to achieve. The bearing friction losses impact the overall efficiency of the turbocharger and accordingly the understanding of bearing systems and their characteristics is essential for future improvements. In this work, a detailed analysis on the mechanical losses occurring in the bearing system of automotive turbochargers is presented. Friction losses have been measured experimentally on a special test bench up to rotational speeds of nTC = 130,000 1/min. Special interest was given to the thrust bearing characteristics and its contribution to the total friction losses. For this, the experiments were split into three parts: first, friction power was determined as a function of turbocharger speed at zero externally applied thrust load. Second, external thrust load up to 40 N was applied onto the turbocharger bearing at fixed rotational speeds of nTC = 40,000, 80,000, and 120,000 1/min. Increasing thrust load was observed to result in increasing friction losses amounting to a maximum of 32%. At last, a specially prepared turbocharger center section with deactivated thrust bearing was investigated. A comparison of these results with the measurement of the conventional bearing system under thrust-free conditions allowed separating journal and thrust bearing losses. The contribution of the thrust bearing to the overall bearing losses appeared to be as high as 38%. Furthermore, a modeling approach for estimating the friction power of both fully floating journal bearing as well as thrust bearing is illustrated. This theoretical model is shown to predict friction losses reasonably well compared to the experimental results.
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e-mail: b.lueddecke@ihi-csi.de
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August 2015
Research-Article
Analysis of Thrust Bearing Impact on Friction Losses in Automotive Turbochargers
Bjoern Hoepke,
Bjoern Hoepke
Institute for Combustion Engines,
Forckenbeckstraße 4,
e-mail: hoepke@vka.rwth-aachen.de
RWTH Aachen University
,Forckenbeckstraße 4,
Aachen 52074
, Germany
e-mail: hoepke@vka.rwth-aachen.de
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Stefan Pischinger,
Stefan Pischinger
Institute for Combustion Engines,
Forckenbeckstraße 4,
e-mail: pischinger@vka.rwth-aachen.de
RWTH Aachen University
,Forckenbeckstraße 4,
Aachen 52074
, Germany
e-mail: pischinger@vka.rwth-aachen.de
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Bernhardt Lueddecke,
Haberstrasse 3+24,
e-mail: b.lueddecke@ihi-csi.de
Bernhardt Lueddecke
IHI Charging Systems International GmbH
,Haberstrasse 3+24,
Heidelberg 69126
, Germany
e-mail: b.lueddecke@ihi-csi.de
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Dietmar Filsinger
Haberstrasse 3+24,
e-mail: d.filsinger@ ihi-csi.de
Dietmar Filsinger
IHI Charging Systems International GmbH
,Haberstrasse 3+24,
Heidelberg 69126
, Germany
e-mail: d.filsinger@ ihi-csi.de
Search for other works by this author on:
Bjoern Hoepke
Institute for Combustion Engines,
Forckenbeckstraße 4,
e-mail: hoepke@vka.rwth-aachen.de
RWTH Aachen University
,Forckenbeckstraße 4,
Aachen 52074
, Germany
e-mail: hoepke@vka.rwth-aachen.de
Tolga Uhlmann
Stefan Pischinger
Institute for Combustion Engines,
Forckenbeckstraße 4,
e-mail: pischinger@vka.rwth-aachen.de
RWTH Aachen University
,Forckenbeckstraße 4,
Aachen 52074
, Germany
e-mail: pischinger@vka.rwth-aachen.de
Bernhardt Lueddecke
IHI Charging Systems International GmbH
,Haberstrasse 3+24,
Heidelberg 69126
, Germany
e-mail: b.lueddecke@ihi-csi.de
Dietmar Filsinger
IHI Charging Systems International GmbH
,Haberstrasse 3+24,
Heidelberg 69126
, Germany
e-mail: d.filsinger@ ihi-csi.de
Contributed by the Structures and Dynamics Committee of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING FOR GAS TURBINES AND POWER. Manuscript received October 31, 2014; final manuscript received December 12, 2014; published online February 3, 2015. Editor: David Wisler.
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. Aug 2015, 137(8): 082507 (8 pages)
Published Online: August 1, 2015
Article history
Received:
October 31, 2014
Revision Received:
December 12, 2014
Online:
February 3, 2015
Citation
Hoepke, B., Uhlmann, T., Pischinger, S., Lueddecke, B., and Filsinger, D. (August 1, 2015). "Analysis of Thrust Bearing Impact on Friction Losses in Automotive Turbochargers." ASME. J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. August 2015; 137(8): 082507. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4029481
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