Eco-friendly bearing for tidal power generation

Nakanishi, Yoshitaka; Shimazu, Kenryo; Matsumoto, Yasuaki; Kai, Shintaro; Oka, Yuichi; Higaki, Hidehiko

doi:10.1109/icrera.2012.6477470

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…7 Polyvinyl formal (PVF), 8 which is a cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel, was adopted as a seal lip material to mimic articular cartilage. An aqueous solution of polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used as a lubricating liquid 9–11 because it exhibits similar non-Newtonian characteristics to a natural synovial fluid. The resulting water-sealing system provided low friction and high waterproof performance during a low-speed operation, conditions under which oil seals and mechanical seals struggle to adequately lubricate dynamic seal faces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-friction shaft seal composed of bio-inspired materials covering low-speed range under water environment

Honda

Kasamura

Nakashima

et al. 2017

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J:

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Shaft seals with a seal lip are used in various applications to separate gases and fluids, but their sealing function and durability are affected by the extent of lubrication at the dynamic seal faces between a rotating shaft and the seal lip. A new sealing system consisting of two hydrated seal rings and non-Newtonian lubricants was designed by a biomimetic approach to minimise frictional loss and provide high waterproof function when separating air and water. This system demonstrates significant superiority in low-speed rotation, conditions under which the lubrication mechanism of an oil seal or mechanical seal does not generally work well. Fibre reinforcement of the seal ring material was performed to prevent the deformation of the soft seal rings because of the frictional force in the tangential direction of the shaft and water pressure. This reinforcement enabled the new sealing system to obtain both high waterproof performance and low frictional characteristics in the speed range of 20–100 r/min.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-friction shaft seal composed of bio-inspired materials covering low-speed range under water environment

Honda

Kasamura

Nakashima

et al. 2017

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J:

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“…In previous research, a new shaft seal adopting the hydration lubrication mechanism of natural joints was developed based on the biomimetic approach (Nakanishi et al, 2016a(Nakanishi et al, , 2012. The shaft seal with seal rings made of hydrophilic materials performed with low frictional torque and high pressure resistance at very slow speeds (Furey and Burkhardt, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fiber reinforcement of hydrophilic materials for a low-torque shaft seal in water environment

Honda

Nakashima

Higaki

et al. 2018

Mechanical Engineering Letters

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The lips of a shaft seal need to be lubricated to ensure its performance. Such seals are subjected to difficult conditions inside water pumps or underwater mechanical systems. Poor lubrication can cause high friction and wear of seal lips. A new shaft seal was designed to prevent water ingress with low friction and high wear resistance by adopting hydrophilic materials to seal rings. Hydrated composites for seal rings were developed with fibers to avoid excessive deformation. In experiments, cellulose nanofibers were most appropriate for reinforcement of the matrix material and the shaft seal exhibited its sealing performance at the speed of 5000 rpm under pressure of 0.8 MPa. This shaft seal will be useful not only for industrial pumps but also for generation systems driven by water flow, such as ocean current or streamflow.

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