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Professorship Machine Elements and Product Development
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Professorship Machine Elements and Product Development 

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Rough surfaces

19.06.2025

Even smooth surfaces are full of microscopic imperfections. These play a crucial role in engineering because they affect the functionality of components. The so-called roughness power spectrum is often used to analyse technical surfaces and optimise their properties. It is based on the superposition of wave functions and allows the determination of important roughness parameters such as Rz and Ra. Scientifically, the roughness power spectrum provides valuable information for contact-mechanical analyses thanks to the multi-scale consideration of all wavelengths. Finally, the invisible world of surfaces becomes usable.

IKAT welcomes you at Makers United

17.06.2025

Chemnitz University of Technology’s IKAT will be represented at this year’s Makers United in Chemnitz „Stadthalle“ next weekend (21-22 June) with its interactive 3-D Puzzle. Visitors can put their spatial imagination to the test with a computer-controlled three-panel projection. Makers United also offers a diverse experience of creative technology, art and hands-on activities for young and old. So it’s well worth a visit! We look forward to seeing you!

Measurement of Hydrodynamic Lubrication Film Pressure in Journal Bearings

27.05.2025

The complete measurement of hydrodynamic lubrication film pressure in both axial and circumferential directions is a key element in validating hydrodynamic journal bearing models. For this purpose, we employ an innovative measurement system that integrates piezoelectric pressure sensors directly into the shaft. During operation, the bearing is loaded and moved over the sensor, allowing for full-field pressure acquisition across the entire lubrication contact – under realistic conditions and with high temporal and spatial resolution. Measurements are taken in 0.45° increments at rotational speeds of up to 18,000 rpm, corresponding to a circumferential speed of approximately 100 m/s.

This method is particularly valuable for assessing the influence of compliant bearing surfaces, such as polymer-based running layers. These materials often result in a more uniform pressure distribution within the lubrication film. However, under certain operating conditions, they may also lead to edge-loading phenomena, which can promote bearing failure.

Thanks to the ability to fully capture the pressure distribution during operation, even plastic deformations – such as the flow of white metal – can be detected and analyzed. This opens up new possibilities for the design, optimization, and durability assessment of modern journal bearing technologies.

Project Committee Shaft-Hub-Connections at the Institute for Machine Elements and Machine Design at TU Dresden

21.05.2025

A small number of IKAT representatives were invited to the Institute for Machine Elements and Machine Design as part of the Project Committee Shaft-Hub-Connections of the Research Association for Drive Technology (FVA) in Dresden. In addition to the final reports, proposed topics and research proposal ideas, the status of ongoing research projects was also successfully presented. Among other things, Mr Ebermann presented the status of the ‘Press bracing in high-speed electric machines’ project, which also includes the development, design and implementation of a high-speed test bench. The first test run of the test bench is shown in the following video. At the bottom left of the video, the target and actual speed can be seen alongside the static torque curve.

Research

Growing ecological and economic pressure leads to ever higher and more complex stresses in the development of plain bearings. The research at the institute is therefore primarily concerned with the investigation and development of alternative sliding materials and the influence of geometric deviations. The main focus of the investigations is the wear behavior under the most varied operating conditions (particles, mixed friction, hydrodynamics).
The permissible loads of selected WNV (tapered and cylindrical interference fit as well as feather key, knurled, polygonal joints, etc.) have been investigated primarily at IKAT for decades in the area of fatigue, fatigue and fatigue strength. The behavior under individual loads (bending, torsion) as well as combined dynamic loads is analysed.
In contact with various components, deformations in connection with the prevailing joint pressure initiate the damage process of fretting fatigue. Current research activities at the institute focus on basic research on the damage phenomenon of fretting fatigue and pursue the objective of developing an impact-compliant calculation method.
While conventional mechanisms owe their deformability to the sliding or rolling interfaces in the joints, flexible mechanisms fulfill their function through elastic stretches in places that are deliberately designed to be flexible during design. This functional principle enables novel, shape-adaptive structures, which can be used, for example, in softrobotics or in variable-shape wings. The professorship focuses its research on optimization-based synthesis methods.
The strength tests focus on the tooth root load-bearing capacity of worm gear units. The challenge to numerical imaging lies in the complex geometry and the special material bronze.
The coefficient of static friction (also: coefficient of friction or coefficient of friction) is to be understood as a system variable with a multitude of influencing parameters. In order to use existing potentials in friction-locking connections (e.g. screw, flange, press-fit connections), an experimental investigation is indispensable. With the help of standardized test methods on model samples, a wide variety of tribological configurations are examined at the research centre with regard to their transmission behavior. A major field of research is the synthesis of new design/selection tools for friction-enhancing measures (e.g. micro/laser structures, hard particles, coatings) for static and dynamic load cases.