Research &Testing
Tribology Laboratory
The Tribology Laboratory at Western Michigan University conducts research in friction and wear phenomena with the goal of increasing service life and reducing energy consumption and maintenance costs in rotating equipment and other machinery.
Focus Areas
- Mechanical Pump Seals
- Wear, friction, material evaluation, lubricant assessment, failure mechanisms
- Friction and Wear Studies
- Customized testing and evaluation of materials and components in service environments
Testing Systems
The following test systems are equipped with dedicated data acquisition systems and appropriate process controls.
- Seal testing stands for long-term wear studies and for evaluation of seal materials. These systems can test multiple seal sets in dry or humidified gases, water, or lubricants at pressures up to 350 psi, and shaft speeds up to 7200 rpm
- Pin-on-disk, pin-on-cylinder, and cylinder-on-cylinder test systems for specialized friction and wear studies to evaluate performance of materials subjected to sliding or impact wear
- Bearing test stand to evaluate greases at elevated temperatures
- Blister test stand to study the tendency of carbon/graphite seal materials to blister under start-up conditions. This tester is equipped with a torque cell to measure friction between seal faces
- Advanced torque tester, fully instrumented to simulate a wide range of mechanical seal service environments while measuring fluid flow rates, pressure, temperature, shaft rotation speed, seal face load, and friction torque
Analytical Equipment
Analytical equipment is available for wear characterization, surface topographic measurement, and microstructural analysis.
- WYKO RST-Plus vertical interference microscope for measurement of surface topography over two-dimensional fields of view from 6x8 mm to 100x150 m m with vertical resolution of 3 nm
- HIAC-Royco particle size analyzer to determine size distribution of particles suspended in liquids
- Micromeritics Autopore mercury intrusion porosimeter for evaluation of total porosity and pore-size distribution
- Metallographic mounting and polishing equipment
- Nikon metallographic light microscope with ImagePro image acquisition and analysis systems
- Fujix digital camera and image processing software
- Leco microhardness tester
Current Research
Sponsors include Flowserve Corporation and thirty other industrial corporations, National Science Foundation, The Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, U.S. Department of Energy, and Western Michigan University. Research is conducted on:
- Interactions of lubricants with various seal face materials to determine the best combinations for minimizing operating energy and prolonging service life
- Evaluation of high-performance seal face materials including novel ceramic materials and hard coatings
- Evolution of surface finish and local wear measurements during start-up and running in
- Blistering tendency of various carbon, carbon/graphite, and composite materials in contact with ceramic and metallic seal faces
- Specialized studies on friction, wear, and failure mechanisms of various materials and components in service environments
Custom Seminars
Seminars and short courses on tribology, friction, and wear can be developed and delivered on-site to meet the needs of specific audiences.
For More Information
Additional information is available from Tribology Laboratory co-directors
Dr. Philip J. Guichelaar
(269) 276-3423
philip.guichelaar@wmich.edu
or the Tribology Laboratory at (269)276-3461. FAX (269)276-3421
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