Development of a Rotational Stage for Operation at 4K Temperature

Submission Type

Event

Expected Graduation Date

2016

Location

Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University

Start Date

4-12-2014 2:00 PM

End Date

4-12-2014 2:00 PM

Disciplines

Physics

Abstract

Simple mechanical device, such as a clock, will not function properly when placed in a low temperature environment such as outer space. While designing and building the mechanical apparatus for low temperatures, we have to consider (1) special lubricants for ball bearings (standard lubricants will freeze at low temperature, thus stalling the rotation) and (2) strict requirements for the materials we can use. High precision is also important in the machining process. To solve these problems we have investigated the performance of hybrid ball bearings that are dry lubricated with tungsten disulfide (WS2). We use Aluminum and G10 because of its machinability and low thermal conductivity. Early test results indicate that the design works well enough. At a temperature of 77 K, the minimum torque needed to rotate the wheel is about 3.33 Nm, which is not prohibitive for our application. In the future, we plan to make improvements to the design to stabilize the rotation, increase the rigidity of the structure and perform the test on different types of ball bearings.

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Apr 12th, 2:00 PM Apr 12th, 2:00 PM

Development of a Rotational Stage for Operation at 4K Temperature

Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University

Simple mechanical device, such as a clock, will not function properly when placed in a low temperature environment such as outer space. While designing and building the mechanical apparatus for low temperatures, we have to consider (1) special lubricants for ball bearings (standard lubricants will freeze at low temperature, thus stalling the rotation) and (2) strict requirements for the materials we can use. High precision is also important in the machining process. To solve these problems we have investigated the performance of hybrid ball bearings that are dry lubricated with tungsten disulfide (WS2). We use Aluminum and G10 because of its machinability and low thermal conductivity. Early test results indicate that the design works well enough. At a temperature of 77 K, the minimum torque needed to rotate the wheel is about 3.33 Nm, which is not prohibitive for our application. In the future, we plan to make improvements to the design to stabilize the rotation, increase the rigidity of the structure and perform the test on different types of ball bearings.