At the beginning of the project, the activities were started with the strategy analysis of the introduction of a new bearing technology, the technologies that will be deployed in BEATTI were also selected and confirmed with the topic manager.
From that point, different aspects of the development were put in place.
First of all, the test plan for the technologies assessment was prepared considering the tests to perform and the instrumentation. Advanced monitoring solutions to put in place during the testing campaigns were selected and developed in order to maximise the testing results. The objective is to be able to measure directly on the bearings. Bearing geometry (grooves, holes machining) and specific embedded instrumentation were developed and successfully delivered. In complement to the instrumentation activities, specific testing tooling was also designed and manufactured taking in account the testing objectives and the instrumentation specificities.
On the bearing technologies side, the detailed design process of the bearings was carried on.
The new technologies development was conducted and frozen, reaching the adequate maturity level for the implementation in the bearing demonstrators.
For that purpose, a strong focus has been put on the bearing rings new material development with processes setup up definition and specific characterization tests realisation.
In parallel of the technologies development, the process to realize the bearing prototypes was put in place.
Bearings calculations and drawing preparation were conducted to confirm the design and the expected performances of the new material bearings demonstrators.
All the prototypes were successfully manufactured. They corresponds to ten bearings references for both bearing type covered by the project, with a total quantity of around 80 samples.
Some references were delivered to the topic manager for engine testing assessment and the others to the SKF testing department for their performance assessment.
And finally, the testing campaign was put in place in SKF testing facilities in the last part of the project period in order to assess the innovative bearings compared to same geometry baseline bearings.
The testing campaign could put in evidence some performance advantages of hybrid technologies versus baseline bearings, behaviour in case of oil off interruption and contribution to lower frictional power losses.
Concerning corrosion, the hybrid bearings with carburized stainless steel showed also much better resistance, also higher the rolling contact fatigue compare to baseline versions.
For the dissemination activities, the main topic concerns bearing material for Aerospace application and with a focus on the heat treatment applied on the innovative material introduced in the BEATTI prototypes, presenting advantages regarding corrosion and resistance to harsh environment. This will also constitute the base of the exploitation study of such bearings made with this steel in combination with ceramic rolling elements.
And finally, the results of the BEATTI testing campaign will also be exploited for other research activities regarding power loss assessment.
