Segmenting the Mature Travel Market by Motivation

The purpose of this study was to segment mature travellers based on their motivations and to profile the similarities and differences between mature travel market segments according to their sociodemographic and travel-related characteristics. A total of 217 respondents (50 years old and above) in the Upstate area in a southern state in the USA were used in this study. Three types of mature travellers were identified with an exploratory factor analysis and cluster analysis: personal, educational and social travellers. They were significantly different regarding the number of years they had lived in the Upstate

Performance Enhancements of PEM Fuel Cells with Narrower Outlet Channels in Interdigitated Flow Field

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is a promising renewable energy conversion technology due to its many unique advantages. Among its multiple components, flow field plays an important role in distributing reactants from flow channels to electrochemical reaction sites in catalyst layers (CL).Furthermore, since the reactions only occur at the triple-phase boundary regions where electrons, protons and reactants meet, the transport of oxygen affects the electrochemical active area (ECA) available for reaction. Interdigitated flow fields have been shown to be very effective in transporting reactants to the reaction sites in the CL. In this work, interdigitated flow fields with different outlet channel widths are employed to examine their effects on the cell performance and ECA. Experimental results show that with narrower outlet channels both the ECA and the cell performance increase significantly, at the expense of slight increase in the ohmic resistance

FRICTION PROPERTIES AND DISTRIBUTION RULE OF LUBRICANT FILM OF FULL CERAMIC BALL BEARING UNDER DIFFERENT SERVICE CONDITION

Full ceramic ball bearings are widely used in extreme and complex conditions, such as ultra-high/low temperature, ultra-high speed, corrosion and insulation, because of their material specificity. In order to reveal the friction and lubrication properties, improve the service performance life of all ceramic ball bearings, a mathematical model of the oil lubrication for full ceramic ball bearings has been established in this paper. The distribution rule of the lubricant film in the contact area under different speeds and loads were analysed. The main factors influencing the peak mutation of the lubricant film pressure are clearly defined. The results are compared and analysed by using a ball-disc rolling lubricant film test machine. The study found that the thickness of the lubricant film of a full ceramic ball bearing is positively correlated with the bearing speed and negatively correlated with the bearing loads. The bearing speed has a relatively large effect on the change in the lubricant film thickness. The pressure of the lubricant film in the contact area is positively correlated with the bearing speed, but it is not affected by the bearing load. Unlike metal ball bearings, the thickness and pressure of the lubricant film have a greater relative rate of change in different positions in the contact area of full ceramic ball bearings. With an increase in the bearing speed, the necking-down effect has a greater influence on the peak mutation of the oil pressure. Only one pressure peak occurs in the oil film in the contact area. The results of this paper play an important role in revealing the friction and lubrication properties of full ceramic ball bearings and improving their service performance and life under oil lubrication conditions

Study on the influence of grinding disc motion on the forming of silicon nitride ceramic balls

In order to improve the processing accuracy of silicon nitride ceramic balls and to investigate the mechanism of forming ceramic balls by flexible support grinding method, a new cone-type flexible support grinding method with controlled deflection motion of grinding disc is proposed. Based on the new grinding method, a simulation model is established to deeply analyze the influence of the deflection motion of the grinding disc on the grinding trajectory and force state of the silicon nitride ceramic balls. Orthogonal experiments were conducted on a new cone-type flexible support grinding platform built to further analyze the effect of grinding disc motion characteristics on ball formation. Simulation and experimental results show that under the flexible support grinding method, As the increases of grinding disc deflection angle, the standard deviation of ball trajectory uniformity decreased from 43.58 to 35.49, the maximum contact force increased to 4 times the initial value, the average ball diameter variation increased from 1.466 μm to 2.382 μm, and the batch diameter variation increased from 4.98 μm to 10.27 μm. The lower grinding disc deflection motion is beneficial to optimize the grinding trajectory, but increases the unevenness of the ball force, which is not conducive to improving the average ball diameter variation and batch diameter variation of silicon nitride ceramic balls. In the actual process, the angle of deflection of the grinding disc must be controlled to within 0.02°

Thermal Dynamic Exploration of Full-Ceramic Ball Bearings under the Self-Lubrication Condition

A silicon nitride ceramic bearing has good self-lubricating characteristics. It still has a good operational status under the condition of a lack of oil. However, the temperature distribution of a silicon nitride ceramic bearing during its operation is unclear. To clarify the thermal distribution of a full-ceramic ball silicon nitride ceramic bearing under self-lubricating conditions, the changing trend of the rolling friction temperature between the rolling elements and channels with different accuracies is analyzed using the friction testing machine. The bearing heat generation model based on the silicon nitride material coefficient is established, and the life test machine measures the temperature of the bearing to verify the accuracy of the simulation model. The results show that the friction temperature between the ceramic ball and channel decreases with the increase in ceramic ball level. With an increase in the ceramic ball pressure and temperature, the friction temperature rises. Under self-lubrication, when the bearing bears a heavy load, the influence of the rotating speed on temperature rise tends to decrease. Under the condition of high speed, with the increase in load, the change range of temperature rise shows an upward trend. The important relationship between the bearing’s heat and bearing’s load and speed is revealed. It provides some theoretical guidance for the thermal analysis of a silicon nitride ceramic ball bearing under the self-lubricating condition to improve the service life and reliability of full-ceramic ball bearings

Study on Distribution of Lubricating Oil Film in Contact Micro-Zone of Full Ceramic Ball Bearings and the Influence Mechanism on Service Performance

Compared with metal ball bearings, full ceramic ball bearings have more outstanding service performance under extreme working conditions. In order to reveal the lubrication mechanism and improve the operation performance and service life of full ceramic ball bearings, in this paper, the friction, vibration, and temperature rise characteristics of 6208 silicon nitride full ceramic deep groove ball bearing, under the condition of oil lubrication, are studied experimentally. Based on the test results, and through theoretical calculation and simulation analysis, the distribution of the lubricating oil film in bearing contact micro-zone under different working conditions was simulated. After that, the surface of contact micro-zone of full ceramic ball bearing was analyzed. It was found that there is an optimal oil supply for full ceramic ball bearing oil lubrication in service. Under the optimal oil supply lubrication, full film lubrication can be achieved, and the bearing exhibits the best characteristics of friction, vibration, and temperature rise. Compared with the load, the rotational speed of the bearing has a decisive influence on the optimal oil supply. When the rotational speed and load are constant, the minimum oil film thickness and oil film pressure in the contact area of the rolling body decrease with the increase of angle ψ from the minimum stress point of the rolling body. Under the action of high contact stress, thin oil film will be formed in the bearing outer ring raceway. In the field of full ceramic ball bearings, the research content of this paper is innovative. The research results of this paper have an important guiding significance for revealing the oil lubrication mechanism of full ceramic ball bearing and enriching its lubrication theory and methods