Work

Tribological behaviors of stator rubber with hexagonal micro-texture and enclosed groove of bionic honeycomb structure

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The model of hydrodynamic lubrication in the flow field was developed with the coupling of hexagonal micro-texture and enclosed groove with bionic honeycomb structure. The finite element method was employed to analyze the influences of texture size, groove width and depth on the pressure fields and load-carrying capacity of hydrodynamic fluid film. The lubrication performance and friction characteristics of the friction pair between stator and rotor of a screw pump were assessed on the results of friction and wear tests of high acrylonitrile rubber after immersion in well fluid. The area of positive pressure regions of fluid film enhances in the groove chamber while that of negative pressure regions reduces with the increased texture size and the decreased groove width, which leads to a decrease in the average pressure and load-carrying capacity. As the groove depth increases, the load-carrying capacity and vortex volume rise and reach a maximum value. This is followed by cavitation effect and increasing vortex energy losses, which weakens the friction reduction and wear resistance. An additional bucket-shaped vortex flow is formed beneath the original vortex in the double wedge-shaped overlapping groove at a depth of 500 μm, while a new dustpan-shaped divergent flow is formed in the single wedge-shaped boundary groove. The texture morphology remains intact in friction and wear tests of stator rubber with surface texturing. However, tiny erosion pits present at the outer edges of the groove bottom after immersion. Slight wear marks are observed on the rubber surface, with fatigue peeling in the texture chamfers and deepening wear marks in some parts of the extended texture region. The optimal combination of texture size of 2 mm, groove width of 200 μm and groove depth of 300 μm has the highest load-carrying capacity, the lowest friction coefficient and the greatest friction reduction.

Source: iScience

DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112421

Authors: Xin-Fu Liu, Chun-Hua Liu, Guang-Xin Hou, Jiang-Yan Guo, Zhong-Xian Hao, Xiang-Zhi Shi

Institutions: Qingdao University of Technology, China University of Petroleum, East China, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development

Language: English

Topic: Tribology and Lubrication Engineering

Subfield: Mechanical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,240