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Editor's Note: Anyone who thinks that STLE isn't on the cutting edge of MEMS technology should read this paper. In it, the authors have measured oil pressures which occur in main and connecting rod bearings using vacuum deposited thin film pressure sensors measuring less than a millimeter wide and just a few microns thick. Their careful work shows that oil pressures in the main bearings can exceed 5000 psi (35 MPa) and are even higher (22,000 psi/150MPa) in connecting rod bearings. Ah, the magic of hydrodynamics. With a supply pressure of just 75 psi (0.5 MPa), the spinning crankshaft works with the oil viscosity to magnify the pressure a hundred fold or more to support the enormous forces of combustion occurring in today heavily loaded engines. This kind of advanced Tribology work goes on in many laboratories around the world and you can read about them in STLE publications. Read on and discover. Appeared in Tribology Transactions, January 2002. |
