Experimental and theoretical evaluation of friction at contacting magnetic storage slider–disk interfaces

To understand better the friction force and wear processes at contacting slider–disk interfaces, we have developed an experimental method for measuring and a theoretical method for calculating the friction force. For this study, a slider with a 1500 μm² contact pad located at the recording head is burnished against a relatively rough disk (～12 Å rms), which ensures smooth sliding. In the experimental method, the friction force is measured as the disk is spun-down to bring the slider–disk interface into an increasing degree of contact. A modified air bearing code is used to determine the experimental normal contact force for each friction measurement. In the theoretical method, the friction force and other relevant interfacial forces are calculated using an improved sub-boundary lubrication (ISBL) rough surface model. The friction force calculation in this model is based on the force needed to induce yielding of the individual disk asperities contacting the flat surface of the contact pad without any assumption of the coefficient of friction. Good agreement is found between the measured and theoretical friction vs. normal contact force curves, indicating that the model is capturing the essential origins of friction at this interface. The model also provides valuable insights into how wear particles may be generated at this contacting slider–disk interface.     

微动接触应力的有限元分析

以方足微动桥,试样接触几何条件为研究对象,应用ANSYS有限元分析软件对其接触面上的应力分布进行弹性有限元分析,验证用ANSYS所建计算模型的正确性,分别计算不同名义接触压力和不同摩擦因数条件下接触状态（粘着区、滑动区、张开区）和接触面应力分布,选取不同水平的循环载荷进行计算,研究接触状态和应力分布随循环载荷的变化情况。结果表明,微动疲劳过程中接触表面拉应力与剪应力在接触面的粘,滑交界区存在突变,微动疲劳裂纹正是在这一区域内萌生并扩展,计算结果与实验结果吻合很好。     

Prediction of fretting wear using boundary element method

The simulation method of the fretting wear prediction using boundary element method is developed. The contact pressure and the contact width which is the first step to predict fretting wear are obtained from contact analysis of a semi-infinite solid based on the use of influence functions and patch solutions. The geometrical updating is based on nodal wear depths computed using Archard’s equation for sliding wear. The prediction of fretting wear for two cases of contact problems is performed; one is two-dimensional cylinder on flat contact which is for the comparison with a previous model by finite element method; the other is three-dimensional spherical contact. It is observed that for two-dimensional cylindrical contact the boundary element method developed in this study reduced the calculation time by 1/48 compared to FE method. We also showed the use of developed simulation technique is efficient to predict the fretting wear for three-dimensional spherical contact.     

Surface topography and properties of frictional contacts

The influence of surface topography on contacting solids is considered. The rough surface model is suggested and is used for the calculation of some tribological contact characteristics. A rough surface is modelled by a set of asperities of regular shape (wedge, cone, cylindrical, spherical segment), of differing height. A simple height distribution function and asperity shape function are used. These functions may be integrated analytically in further calculations.The surface model is used for calculation of one of the main contact parameters - real contact pressure (or real contact area) and other principal contact parameters, such as deformation, number of contact spots, average spot area, average distance between contact spots and intercontact gap.It is shown how the above parameters may be used for the calculation of such operational contact characteristics as friction coefficient, wear rate and electrical and thermal resistance.     

Utility of a fretting device working under free displacement

Relative movements of low amplitudes between two materials in contact are generally reproduced on fretting devices with imposed displacement or imposed tangential force. The damage kinetics observed (cracking, wear) is established under such conditions. In this article, a fretting device working under free displacement is used to characterize the damages generated by seizure and wear. The conditions of seizure are analyzed from the total sliding distance and the discussion is focused on a correlation established with Dupre's work of adhesion. The wear behavior of materials has been characterized from an energetic wear coefficient taking into account the wear volume of contact, the total sliding distance and the dissipated energy.     

Development of a friction energy capacity approach to predict the surface coating endurance under complex oscillating sliding conditions

In the case of surface coatings application it is crucial to establish when the substrate is reached to prevent catastrophic consequences. In this study, a model based on local dissipated energy is developed and related to the friction process. Indeed, the friction dissipated energy is a unique parameter that takes into account the major loading variables which are the pressure, sliding distance and the friction coefficient. To illustrate the approach a sphere/plane (Alumina/TiC) contact is studied under gross slip fretting regime. Considering the contact area extension, the wear depth evolution can be predicted from the cumulated dissipated energy density. Nevertheless, some difference is observed between the predicted and detected surface coating endurance. This has been explained by a coating spalling phenomenon observed below a critical residual coating thickness. Introducing an effective wear coating parameter, the coating endurance is better quantified and finally an effective energy density threshold, associated to a friction energy capacity approach, is introduced to rationalize the coating endurance prediction. The surface treatment lifetime is then simply deduced from an energy ratio between this specific energy capacity and a mean energy density dissipated per fretting cycle. The stability of this approach has been validated under constant and variable sliding conditions and illustrated through an Energy Density–Coating Endurance chart.     

Effect of oil supply on fretting wear

Fretting wear of lubricated flat steel surfaces (100 mm × 100 mm) was studied using a specially prepared test rig. The amplitudes of reciprocating sliding and the apparent contact pressure were 0.1–0.75 mm and 10 MPa respectively. The specimen surfaces were given various heat treatments and were mesh grooved for oil supply. Gear oil was fed to the sliding surfaces. Ungrooved surfaces gave severe fretting wear under the experimental sliding conditions used. However, significant reduction in fretting wear was obtained by grooving the surface. The effect could be obtained only when the spacing between the grooves was small, presumably because the oil was fed to the whole contact region owing to the smaller spacing.     

Contact properties of a wet clutch friction material

Wet clutches are required to transmit torque and also prevent motion in automatic transmissions. Their performance is critically dependent on a friction material which comprises one of the contacting surfaces. Friction materials are usually a composite of fibres, naturally occurring minerals and particles of silicon and graphite, which are all bonded together with a resin. The material formed has very rough surfaces with much steeper slopes than normally-finished steel surfaces. When the friction material is loaded against a relatively flat counterface the real area of contact is only a small percentage of the nominal area and consists of many small, independent “contact units”. It is important to know the conditions present in the contact units (spatial dimensions and pressure) in order to understand and model wet clutch lubrication.In this study, the contact units formed between a paper based friction material and a glass counterface have been investigated under different pressures and during rubbing. A contact visualisation technique is used to directly view and capture images of the contact. The real area of contact and the number of individual units is subsequently determined by image analysis. It is found that the real area of contact increases approximately linearly with applied load, and increases rapidly with rubbing, due to wear. As the load is increased, the number of individual contact units increases up to a critical pressure, suggesting more parts of the material support the load. Above the critical pressure the contact units may be deforming elastically and/or plastically to form larger units. After rubbing, large contact units are formed by flat areas on the tops of the contacting fibres, which are formed during wear. The topography of individual fibres is studied before and after the wearing process using atomic force microscopy, and the results support the truncating wear mechanism.     

粗糙表面弹性微动接触数值研究

由于实际工程表面多为粗糙表面,这里研究了粗糙表面对微动接触中压力和切向应力的影响。研究接触过程中法向载荷保持不变,切向载荷为周期性的交变载荷。首先,建立接触算法和模型,其算法核心是利用共轭梯度法(CGM)计算微动接触中的表面压力及切向应力并使用快速傅里叶变换(FFT)加快计算速度。然后,在验证算法正确的基础上,分析正弦和非高斯粗糙表面接触的压力和切向应力的分布,通过对光滑与粗糙表面的研究对比,表明:(1)在正弦表面接触切向应力分布呈现尺寸效应;(2)在非高斯表面接触中,切向应力分布跟光滑表面形状类似;同时由于粗糙峰存在,粗糙表面下的切向应力比光滑表面下的要大,研究粗糙表面微动接触对实际工程具有重要意义。     

柱塞泵配流副滑摩界面摩擦磨损及热力耦合分析

针对轴向柱塞泵配流副滑摩过程中由摩擦温升所引起的摩擦磨损问题,建立配流副轴对称非稳态热传导方程,利用ABAQUS有限元软件进行配流副摩擦磨损及热力耦合特性分析,并利用端面摩擦磨损试验机进行试验验证。结果表明:在滑摩初期,相比于中低压力,高压力工况更易发生磨粒磨损;随着滑摩进行,材料表面粗糙峰被磨平,加之温度上升,材料强度下降,高转速取代高压力成为接触面温度和摩擦系数增大的主要影响因素,此时的磨损机制主要为黏着磨损;在滑摩过程中,外径出现了应力集中现象,且接触压力高于内径;转速及压力对配流副摩擦温升及磨损特性的影响是非线性的,在相同PV值下,转速比压力的影响更为显著。     

Effect of surface etching on the lubricated sliding wear of an eutectic aluminium–silicon alloy

The paper presents a study of the formation of wear grooves on near-eutectic aluminium–silicon alloy flats, by sliding a steel ball. The formation of the grooves are tracked on etched and unetched flats as functions of normal load and sliding distance. The groove is initially formed by plastic flow, and then expanded by micro-abrasion as the ball continues to slide on the groove. Etching causes surface hardening of the alloy, but, more importantly creates a surface topology that reduces the peak contact pressure, which discourages further plastic flow in the subsurface. This effect is rationalised using an existing contact mechanical model of indentation of rough surfaces.     

Interface roughness effect on friction map under fretting contact conditions

In many industrial applications where fretting damage is observed in the contact (e.g. rotor/blade, electrical contacts, assembly joint, axe/wheel, clutch) the external loadings or geometry design cannot be changed. Therefore, the surface preparation and finishing process become essential to control and reduce the damage caused by fretting. In this paper, the authors present the experimental study of the initial surface roughness and machining process influence on fretting conditions in both partial and full sliding regimes. Surfaces prepared by milling and smooth abrasive polishing processes have been analysed. The influence of roughness on sliding behaviour and analysis of friction have been reported. Also, the contact pressure influence and qualitative analysis of fretting wear scar have been presented.     

地铁刚性弓网系统接触线磨损特性试验研究

为研究地铁刚性接触网系统接触线磨损的规律,以地铁刚性接触网系统常用的浸金属碳滑板/铜银合金接触线作为摩擦副,通过模拟地铁弓网系统运行参数,使用载流摩擦磨损试验机研究有、无电火花放电情况下,浸金属碳滑板与铜银合金接触线直流电滑动过程中磨损量、摩擦因数、载流效率随滑动距离的变化。试验结果表明：电火花放电会使得接触线与浸金属碳滑板磨损量显著上升,出现电火花放电时摩擦因数较小,弓网系统载流效率会明显降低同时出现大幅波动。试验后对碳滑板和接触线表面形貌的观察可知：电火花放电会使得浸金属碳滑板表面烧蚀坑数量和尺寸大小增加,同时会出现滑板材料大面积剥落和表面裂纹增多的问题,接触线表面形貌变得更加粗糙。     

Measurements of pressure and area dependent tangential contact stiffness between rough surfaces using digital image correlation

The present paper describes an experimental technique to accurately measure the tangential contact stiffness between two rough contacting surfaces manufactured from the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V. The digital image correlation method is employed to measure the local displacement field. The effect of normal contact pressure, nominal contact area and fretting wear on tangential contact stiffness is investigated. The experiments indicate that the tangential contact stiffness is approximately proportional to the nominal contact area and the normal pressure raised to the power of 0.64. Multiple experiments with the same parameters show good repeatability given the number of variables involved.     

单粗糙峰通过接触区全过程的时变热弹流数值仿真

建立了带单粗糙峰的表面滚滑工况的点接触时变热弹流模型，数值模拟了钢与钢接触、快速表面带单粗糙峰通过接触区的全过程。结果表明，接触区内的粗糙峰会引起局部高压，当粗糙峰较高时，润滑膜会变得极薄，这对润滑的可靠性是不利的，而局部压力高峰也会严重降低材料的表面疲劳寿命。     

Characterization of fretting wear behavior of Cu–Al coating on Ti–6Al–4V substrate

Fretting wear and fretting fatigue are two commonly observed material damages when two contacting bodies with a clamping load are under the oscillatory motion. In this study, fretting wear damage of Cu–Al coating on titanium alloy, Ti–6Al–4V substrate was investigated using the dissipated energy approach. Fretting tests were conducted with either no fatigue load or the maximum fatigue load of 300 MPa and stress ratio of 0.1 on the substrate (specimen). In order to investigate the effect of contact load and contact size, different pad sizes and contact loads were used in the tests. Accumulated dissipated energy versus wear volume data showed a linear relationship regardless of fatigue loading condition on specimen with the smaller pad size. However, two separate linear relationships were observed based on the fatigue loading condition with the larger pad size, such that a relatively more dissipated energy was required for a certain amount of wear with fatigue load on the specimen. The linear relationship between the accumulated dissipated energy and wear volume for both pad sizes extended from partial to gross slip regimes and was not affected by the applied contact load. Further, fretting tests with and without fatigue load resulted in different shapes of fretting loops when the larger pad size was used.     

Adaptive finite element simulation of wear evolution in radial sliding bearings

This article employs an adaptive wear modeling method to study the wear progress in radial sliding bearings contacting with a rotary shaft. Mixed Lagrangian–Eulerian formulation has been used to simulate the contact condition between the bearing and the shaft, and the local wear evolution is modeled using the Archard equation. In the developed wear processor algorithm, not only remeshing is performed on the contact elements, but also is executed for their proximity elements. In this way the wear simulation becomes independent of the size of the contact elements. Validation was done for a laminated polymeric composite bearing. The composite has been modeled as a linear orthotropic material. The wear coefficients were obtained from flat-on-flat experiments and were applied as pressure and velocity dependent parameters in the wear processor. Finally, the effect of the clearance on the wear of the radial bearings has been studied numerically. The simulations also demonstrate how the contact pressure evolves during the wear process, and how the clearance influences this evolution.     

Palliatives in fretting: A dynamical approach

Fretting damages are connected to numerous aspects like friction, wear, contact mechanics, fatigue and material sciences. Its quantification also requests to consider the loading history as well as the sliding condition. Based on a “fretting sliding” approach, and considering fretting wear test conditions, various palliative solutions have been investigated. Shot peening treatment, introducing compressive residual stresses, appears pertinent against crack propagation but ineffective against crack nucleation due to the activation of surface relaxation phenomena. Hard thin coatings present stable residual stresses independently of the sliding conditions. However, they only delay the crack nucleation process, when the coating is worn through, cracking phenomena are activated. To quantify the coating endurance against wear, an energy density approach has been developed. The stability of this approach has been confirmed regarding the contact size effect and illustrated through the analysis of synergic interaction between soft thick coating and solid lubricant.     

Development of a test device for the evaluation of fretting in point contact

Fretting wear and fatigue may occur between any two contacting surfaces, wherever short‐amplitude reciprocating sliding is present for a large number of cycles. A test device has been developed for the evaluation of fretting fatigue and wear in partial and gross slip conditions. Three similar sphere‐on‐plane contacts run at the same time. Normal force, tangential force or displacement amplitude and constant bulk stress can be controlled and measured separately. Reciprocating tangential displacement is produced with rotational motion, the amplitude and frequency of which can be adjusted and controlled accurately by an electric shaker. The number of load cycles for crack initiation and growth is determined with strain‐gauge measurements near the fretting point of contact. The contact surfaces are measured with 3D optical profilometer before fretting measurements to determine actual contact geometry. The measurements were done with quenched and tempered steel. The initial results indicate that cracks are mostly formed in partial slip conditions, whereas fretting wear is more heavily involved in gross slip conditions. The initiation of a crack occurs near the edge of the contact in the slip direction, where the calculated cracking risk has its maximum value in partial slip conditions. The number of cracks increases as the displacement amplitude, i.e. friction force, increases in partial slip conditions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fretting-induced friction and wear in large flat-on-flat contact with quenched and tempered steel

Fretting may cause severe surface damage and lead to unexpected fatigue failure. Our test apparatus was designed based on reciprocating, large, annular flat-on-flat contact without any edge effects in the direction of the fretting movement. Fretting wear tests were run with quenched and tempered steel with different normal pressures and sliding amplitudes under gross sliding conditions. The development of the friction coefficient and total wear mass depended mostly on the accumulated sliding distance. Initially, friction and wear were highly adhesive but gradually changed to abrasive due to third body accumulation in the interface.