Overview
The development of new journal bearing materials is viewed as key enabler for future geared turbofan engines where extreme operational conditions- out of industry experience- exist. The challenging conditions are not met by state-of-the-art journal bearing materials and new journal bearing material concepts are demanded.
Therefore, HIPERFAN aims for the development of the most robust and reliable high-performance journal bearing materials and associated manufacturing processes, and will support the optimization of the entire tribological journal bearing system in order to enable the new Ultrafan™ and consequently the Very High Bypass Ratio (VHBR) engine technology.
In order to fulfil this aim, HIPERFAN will follow a new direct coated multilayer/graded coatings approach that will take the status quo of current established journal bearing materials to a new level. Gradually tailored composition and/or morphology of the materials will combine maximum fatigue strength with maximum adaptability and will lower risks and limitations of today's journal bearing (material) technology significantly.
Simulation assisted design and production of the coating architecture combined with sub scale tribometer testing's over the entire stribeck curve and under emergency running conditions (already in the early development stage) will enable a fast screening of multiple material combinations and will develop a comprehensive understanding of the underlying tribological system.
Within the frame of HIPERFAN new (systematically analysed, characterized and optimized) journal bearing materials will be developed. Including the development of a process simulation assisted Magnetron technology to a maturity level of TRL6 and MCRL4 respectively.