Design and control of a linear bearing durability tester

Abstract

In order to better understand the characteristics of linear bearings under high load and high speed conditions, a machine capable of testing bearings under these conditions was created. The machine is flexible in its design, allowing testing of a wide variety of bearing styles and under many different load conditions. The maximum load that the machine can provide in any single direction is over 11 kN, with a maximum moment-application capability of over 850 N-m. Additionally, an open-loop load control system and closed-loop motion control system were designed for this application. Finally, a LabView based program integrates the control systems and allows the user to easily calibrate the applied loads, run tests, and analyze data. The overall result is a function test machine capable of testing linear bearings under high load and high speed conditions, either for short term testing of durability verification.