Ways of increasing the reliability and service life of bearing assemblies of modern gas-turbine engines and gears

Problems connected with ensuring reliability and service life of bearing assemblies of helicopter gas-turbine engines and accessory gearboxes have a significant place within the framework of ensuring reliability of the latter. The experience of operating the existing aviation gas-turbines and gearboxes, as well as the experience of creating new types of structures, shows that determination and establishment of the service life of the main and most loaded parts that include bearing assemblies is one of the first-priority problems facing producers of aviation gas-turbine engines and gears. The paper demonstrates an attempt to analyze the main problems which are at the bottom of shorter service life and lower reliability of domestic aviation bearings as compared to bearings made by foreign manufacturers. The scope of work to ensure the reliability of bearing assemblies in aerospace products is specified, proposals for solving the existing problems are put forward. Experimental methods of confirming the service life of bearings are outlined.