Extreme Condition Aerospace Tribology*

By

Dr. Christopher DellaCorte

Senior Technologist, Tribology and Rotating Machinery

 NASA Glenn Research Center

Cleveland, Ohio

Abstract:

The aerospace environment varies widely from the cold dark vacuum encountered by deep space probes to planetary operation in a thin carbon dioxide atmosphere on mars to high speed flight of aircraft.  These extreme environments pose many engineering challenges including tribology systems and components such as lubricants, bearings, and gears.  Such challenges include extreme loads, temperatures and environmental compatibility issues.  In this poster, specific environmental conditions for a variety of typical aerospace applications will be presented along with engineering approaches to design hardware that meets mission needs.  Several recent NASA examples of how specific challenges are met will be introduced.