Expressing wear rate in sliding contacts based on dissipated energy

The wear of materials in sliding contacts is considered as resulting from an energy dissipation due to friction between the contacting first bodies. Up to now, no standard procedure in tribology is available to relate that dissipated energy with wear losses for different sliding wear tests and conditions. In this paper, a procedure is proposed to correlate the volumetric wear loss of one first body with the dissipated energy for unidirectional and bidirectional ball-on-flat tests. The model can be useful to predict the service lifetime of components from a limited number of laboratory tests. The validity and limitation of the wear loss versus dissipated energy model is illustrated for hard coatings like TiN and (Ti, Al)N, and multilayered (Ti, Al)N/TiN coatings. The effect of the applied normal load and the relative humidity (RH) of the ambient air on the wear rate for these different coatings are shown as well. A mild oxidational wear model is used to describe the material loss on these coatings in sliding contacts.     

机械零件磨损仿真与概率寿命估算

基于离散数学理论和计算机技术,用数值仿真方法,建立通用数值仿真模型。提出磨损概率寿命概念,利用Monte Carlo法,以斜齿圆柱齿轮摩擦副磨损状态为研究对象,通过算例实现对斜齿圆柱齿轮机构磨损失效概率寿命分布的计算,解决了零件磨损概率寿命的预测问题,所建立的磨损仿真方法和模型具有良好的工程应用前景。     

On the interdependence between kinetics of friction-released thermal energy and the transition in wear mechanisms during sliding of metallic pairs

Sliding of complying solids is often associated with the release of thermal energy. This energy accumulates within the mechanically affected zone (MAZ) of the rubbing pair. The accumulation of thermal energy within the MAZ tends to maximize the potential energy at the interface. Now, since a maximized potential energy renders the sliding system unstable, one (or both) materials will respond in a manner that consumes (dissipates) part or all of the accumulated energy in order to re-establish system stability or at least equilibrium. The material response may be in many forms: oxidation, crack initiation, wear debris generation, transition in wear mechanism, etc. As such, one may consider that these processes are intrinsic responses by the material to dissipate energy. Moreover, many of these responses are triggered at different stages of rubbing according to the balance between the rate of external thermal energy release (which is a factor of the nominal operation parameters) and the rate of thermal energy accumulation—RTEA (which is mainly a function of thermal transport properties of the rubbing pair). An interesting feature of this view is that the later quantity—RTEA—is directly related to the ability of the particular solid to dissipate thermal loads. This quantity, which is termed here as the heat dissipation capacity (HDC), is directly related to the state of blockage of energy dissipation paths within the rubbing solid. The objective of this paper is therefore to study the relation between the change in the HDC of a sliding solid and the transition in the mechanism of wear. It is shown that there exists an inverse correlation between the change in the HDC and the transition in the mechanism of wear. Moreover, it is also shown that a so-called ratio of residual heat (RRH, representing the ratio between the actual thermal load and the part of that load that is not dissipated by the solid) is a significant parameter that influences the magnitude and mechanism of wear. The findings are applied to explain the wear behavior of two tribo systems: a titanium (Ti-6Al-4V) sliding on itself and sliding on a steel (AISI M2) counterpart.     

A new method to investigate the sliding wear behaviour of materials based on energy dissipation: W–25 wt%Cu composite

A new method is proposed to explain and monitor wear behaviour based on energy dissipation. The wear of a W–25 wt%Cu composite against 52100 steel was used to demonstrate this approach with pin-on-disc tests conducted under three normal loads. An energy-dependent criterion, namely, specific wear volume (wear volume/dissipated energy (mm³/J)), was defined to evaluate the wear of the composite. The specific wear volume can be used as a substitute for the traditional wear rate due to the simultaneous expression of several wear parameters and because of its strong dependence on the wear mode. The specific wear volume appears to be constant in any particular “wear mode” regardless of the active “wear processes”. In the wear of this composite, processes such as particle pull-out, mechanically mixed layer (MML) formation, crack propagation and delamination were observed. But, combination of these processes in each test had identical specific wear volumes. Thus, all of these wear processes were considered to be consecutive stages of the same wear mode: fatigue wear. The amount of dissipated energy and the volumetric loss increased with increasing normal load. Also, changing the normal load changed the rate of energy dissipation per unit sliding distance.     

Effect of small harmonic oscillations during the steady rolling of a cylinder on a plane

If a wheel rolling over a rail transmits a tangential traction, frictional microslip occurs in part of the contact area, resulting in energy dissipation and localized wear. If the applied forces oscillate in time, the resulting wear will be non-uniform, resulting in ‘corrugations’ that can grow with progressive passes, depending on the dynamics of the overall system. In this paper, a linear perturbation method is used to obtain closed-form expressions for the receptance of a two-dimensional rolling contact subjected to small oscillations in normal force and rotational speed superposed on a mean value in the limit of large coefficient of friction. Corresponding expressions are also obtained for the amplitude and phase of the energy dissipation in the contact, which is expected to correlate with the local wear rate.The results are compared with a simpler Winkler model of the contact and with other models that have been used for the analysis of rail corrugation. Surprisingly good agreement is obtained with numerical results due to Gross-Thebing for the receptances due to oscillations in rotational speed.     

基于数值仿真技术求解铰链机构磨损概率寿命

基于离散数学理论和计算机技术,用数值仿真方法,以曲柄滑块机构中的铰链摩擦副磨损状态为研究对象,针对光面磨损失效形式,建立同时考虑压力和温度影响时铰链机构的磨损数值仿真模型,提出具体的算法方案并编写了通用程序.引入位置矢量和磨损步长的概念,使连续的磨损过程离散化,并对铰链机构的运动规律做了动态跟踪.提出磨损概率寿命的概念,利用蒙特卡洛法,通过算例实现对铰链机构磨损概率寿命的可靠性计算,解决了零件磨损寿命的可靠性预测问题.结果表明:复杂的磨损过程可用数值法进行模拟仿真,从而摆脱传统的仅依赖试验的研究方法,通过一系列离散性准静态模型解决经典微积分数学方法无法解决的动态和非线性磨损问题,具有良好的工程应用前景.     

Prediction of Wear in Reciprocating Dry Sliding via Dissipated Energy and Temperature Rise

An alternative technique aimed at facilitating the calculation of frictional power dissipation in reciprocating dry sliding is presented. The proposed technique can be employed for the prediction of wear in circumstances where the direct measurement of power dissipation is encumbered by practical limitations. Experimental tests are carried out to investigate the relationship between the system’s wear rate, power dissipation, and thermal response. A convenient technique is also proposed to estimate the average contact temperature in a reciprocating sliding contact. The predicted temperatures agree with the experimental measurements. It is also shown how the predicted temperatures can be used for the estimation of wear under reciprocating dry sliding configuration.     

Influence of the Martensite Volume Fraction on the Reciprocating Sliding Behavior of Ti-Nb Microalloyed Steel

The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of martensite fraction on the wear mode and the energy dissipation by friction of dual phase (DP) steel tested under reciprocating sliding conditions. For this purpose, a Ti-Nb microalloyed steel was heat treated in a conventional furnace at temperatures between 780 and 880°C (intercritical annealing temperature) for 3 min to obtain DP microstructures with volume fractions of martensite between 25 and 90%. Wear tests were carried out in both DP and as-received samples, using a reciprocating tribometer with ball-on-flat geometry, at two constant applied loads, 2.5 and 4 N. The wear damage of each sample was measured through volume loss and the dissipated energy during the test. The obtained results evidenced a significant influence of the contact load over the wear mode, because at low load the DP wear was reduced with increased hardness but just up to 75% of martensite. At high load, the sliding process promotes an oxide mixture in the ferritic microstructure that acts as a factor in wear reduction.     

Structure and mechanical properties of tribologically induced nanolayers

Ultra low wear rates are common for lubricated state-of-the-art mechanical devices used in machines and cars. The main paths of energy dissipation are heat and wear generation as well as a significant change of near-surface material within the range of a few hundred nanometers. Due to mechanical intermixing at the asperity level the involved materials change with respect to chemical composition, morphology and mechanical properties. By means of focused ion beam analysis the morphology of the near-surface material of tribologically stressed and unstressed samples was investigated. In addition, nanoindentation was applied to characterize the mechanical properties. In the presented study mechanical intermixing leads to nanocrystalline material which is softer than bulk material. Depending on the level of tribological stressing, the modified material exhibits smaller energy dissipation, thus lower friction and wear.     

Friction and wear behaviour of electron beam modified PTFE filled EPDM compounds

The friction and wear of non-modified and electron beam modified polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filled ethylene–propylene–diene–monomer (EPDM) rubber investigated with the help of pin on disk tribometer showed different behaviour during the sliding contact with hard spherical steel-ball. The friction coefficient (μ) and specific wear rate (k) of modified PTFE filled EPDM increased with an absorbed dose of PTFE powder while non-modified PTFE filled EPDM showed the lowest μ and k values. This variation in friction and wear behaviour of PTFE filled EPDM compounds is caused by the influence of radiation induced chemical changes in PTFE powder on the radical initiated peroxide crosslinking. It results from the lower crosslinking efficiency and consequently in the deterioration of the bulk properties. The electron modification of PTFE powder reduces the hardness (modulus) and increases the energy dissipation (tan delta) of compounds. Beside other factors, these variations in bulk properties have been shown to have deleterious effects on the friction and wear properties of electron beam modified PTFE filled EPDM.     

Wear stability of polymer nanocomposite coatings with trilayer architecture

A polymer trilayer (sandwiched) film with a thickness of 20–30 nm has been designed to serve as a wear resistant nanoscale coating for silicon surfaces. These surface structures are formed by a multiple grafting technique applied to self-assembled monolayers (SAM) and functionalized tri-block copolymer, followed by the photopolymerization of a topmost polymer layer. The unique design of this layer includes a hard-soft-hard nanoscale architecture with a compliant rubber interlayer mediating localized stresses transferred through the topmost hard layer. This architecture provides a non-linear mechanical response under a normal compression stress and allows additional dissipation of mechanical energy via the highly elastic rubber interlayer. At modest loads, this coating shows friction coefficient against hard steel below 0.06, which is lower than that for a classic molecular lubricant, alkylsilane SAM. At the highest pressure tested in this work, 1.2 GPa, the sandwiched coating possesses four times higher wear resistance than the SAM coating. The wear mechanism for this coating is stress and temperature induced oxidation in the contact area followed by severe plowing wear.     

An energy-based model for the wear of UHMWPE

An energetic approach to model the wear of tribological systems in which one of the components of the pair is polymeric is presented in this work. Experimental data, obtained in ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) pin-on-disk tribological tests, showed that a linear correlation between the wear rate of the polymer and the dissipated energy exists, independently of the lubricant, of the material used as counterbody and of the surface finishing of both polymer and counterbody. This fact strongly suggests that, in UHMWPE-based tribological systems, energy dissipation is mainly caused by the elasto-plastic deformation and wear of the polymer. Based on this assumption, it is developed a mathematical model that yields for a physical interpretation of the parameters of the experimental wear vs. energy correlation. These parameters are intrinsic wear properties of the polymer and can be used for the optimization of polymer-based tribological systems.     

On dry sliding friction and wear behaviour of PEEK and PEEK/SiC-composite coatings

In this work, polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and PEEK/SiC-composite coatings were deposited on Al substrates using a printing technique to improve their surfaces performance. The objective of this work was to investigate coatings friction and wear behaviour. Especially, the effect of sliding velocity and applied load on coatings friction coefficient and wear rate was evaluated in range of 0.2-1.4 m/s and 1-9 N, respectively. Compared to Al substrate, the coated samples exhibit excellent friction coefficient and wear rate. For PEEK coating, under an applied load of 1 N, the increase in sliding velocity can result in decreasing of friction coefficient at a cost of wear resistance. Under a load of 9 N, however, PEEK coating exhibits the highest friction coefficient and wear rate at an intermediate velocity. These influences appear to be mainly ascribed to the influence of contact temperature of the two relative sliding parts. In most test conditions, the composite coating exhibits better wear resistance and a little higher friction coefficient. SiC reinforcement in composite coating plays a combined role. First of all, it might lead to energy dissipation for activation of fracture occurred on the interface of PEEK and the powders. Moreover, it can reduce coating ploughs and the adhesion between the two relative sliding parts.     

Optimization of die casting conditions for wear properties of alloy AZ91D components using the Taguchi method and design of experiments analysis

This investigation applied the Taguchi method and designs of experiments (DOE) approach to optimize parameters for magnesium alloy AZ91D. Tribological properties of wear mass loss and friction coefficients were studied. Planning of experiments was based on a Taguchi orthogonal array table, and applied signal-to-noise ratios to determine an optimal setting. Furthermore, as the analysis of variance (ANOVA) was adapted to identify the most influential factors, the fusion slurry pressure was found to be the most significant factor. By applying regression analysis, a mathematical predictive model of the wear mass loss was developed in terms of the die casting process parameters. Additional runs were conducted in order to validate the optimal setting and compare the performance of the Taguchi method and the DOE approach. In this study, the wear mechanisms of adhesive and delamination for the AZ91D were found through wear tests. A specimen with a low wear mass loss has shown a low friction coefficient as well as small exfoliates and fractures.     

Optimization of abrasive waterjet machining using multi-objective cuckoo search algorithm

Abrasive waterjet (AWJ) machining is widely applied in the fields of civil and mechanical engineering. In this study, a general and theoretical analysis procedure was presented before computing application. It mainly focused on the kinetic energy model and wear rate model in machining process. Then, the multi-objective cuckoo algorithm was employed for optimization design of AWJ cutting head model, making sure to maximize the output energy and minimize the nozzle erosion rate while keeping the other factors constant. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the above strategy, a practical AWJ machining system was selected for investigation purpose. The proposed model was compared with experimental data for investigating the difference between the initial design and the optimized model. The results showed that the multi-objective cuckoo algorithm has great ability in prediction of outlet power and wear rate. Meanwhile, the optimized parameters were also superior to the original design, compared with experimental test data. The developed model can be used as a systematic approach for prediction in an advanced manufacturing process.     

Quantification of wear,strain and heat energy consumption rates for sliding steel ball against diamond-like carbon coatings

Abstract

In this work, we evaluated the different energy consumption rates associated with the total frictional energy for a ball sliding on a flat surface. The energy generated by the sliding two bodies in contact is dissipated into the materials in various forms. The wear consumption energy for a steel ball against a diamond-like carbon surface was evaluated by the wear coefficient of the wear volume–energy input equation. The strain energy generated in the steel ball as a result of being made to slide under a certain load was calculated using the Hertzian theory. The chemical reaction energy was estimated based on iron oxidation. Finally, the frictional energy dissipated as heat was obtained by subtracting the wear and the strain energies from the total frictional energy.     

Experimental Analysis and Wear Prediction Model for Unfilled Polymer–Polymer Sliding Contacts

Lifetime prediction of polymer–polymer contacts is a major challenge. Current design methods stemming from metal contact surfaces lack accuracy because polymers behave differently, especially regarding temperature variations. Experiments were performed on a pin-on-disk setup alternating static and rotating elements. Common unfilled engineering polymers, viz. polyoxymethylene (POM), polypropylene (PP), polyamide 6.6 (PA6.6), and polycarbonate (PC) were tested at ambient and elevated temperatures. Material combinations were analyzed regarding the effects of load, velocity, temperature, and the product of contact pressure and sliding velocity (PV limit). The experimental results show that the PV limit is not predictive for polymer–polymer contacts; rather, each material combination has a critical factor that determines the wear and frictional values and thus the contact’s durability and lifetime. The critical factor is the value of contact pressure or sliding velocity or temperature at which there is sudden increase in wear rate. The experimental results also demonstrate that the application temperature in operation has an important influence on the lifetime. A temperature increase can either be beneficial or have a negative impact depending on the material combination. Resulting from the extensive experimental analysis, a new design method, based on the principle of deformation energy, is proposed. The new model is different from existing models because it includes thermal properties of the materials in contact and it makes use of the Péclet number. Because the proposed model requires only data sheet values and design parameters to predict wear volume, the model improves the support of engineers in designing durable polymer–polymer sliding contacts.     

Elevated pitting wear of injection molded polyetheretherketone (PEEK) rolls

The increased pitting wear of PEEK rolls applied as bearing elements in drawer guide rails was investigated. Similar to findings for PEEK gear wheels the increased pitting occurred only in the presence of lubricants. Simple assumptions found in literature to explain this effect for PEEK gear wheels could be disproved within this research. Moreover, high irreversible deformations during the rolling process of PEEK rolls which were observed in a previous study were shown to not influence the mechanical properties of the surface material significantly. Additionally, the chemical analysis of the tribological system with Raman spectroscopy excluded a chemical reason for the intensified pitting. A detailed microscopic analysis of unstressed PEEK rolls combined with microtome cuts of the surfaces showed distinct pre-cracks in the outermost surface region which were not visible to the naked eye. Assuming a crack growth mechanism that was strongly supported by the fluid pressure of grease enclosed in the surface pre-cracks the injection molding process was adapted in order to improve the surface quality of the PEEK rolls. By this way the fatigue lifetime of the latter was increased by a factor of 2–3 which was crucial for the practical application.     

A Feature Extraction Method for the Wear of Milling Tools Based on the Hilbert Marginal Spectrum

Abstract

The Hilbert–Huang transform (HHT) can adaptively delineate complex non-linear, non-stationary signals when used as the Hilbert–Huang marginal spectrum through empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and the Hilbert transform, to highlight local features of signals. Characterized by high resolution, the Hilbert marginal spectrum has been widely applied in mechanical signal processing and fault diagnosis. In the research, an HHT based on the improved EMD was proposed to analyze the cutting force, vibration acceleration (AC), and acoustic emission (AE) signals during tool wear in the milling process. At first, the collected signals were subjected to range analysis, which revealed that tool wear was closely related to the signals collected during the cutting process. Then, EMD was applied to the signals, followed by variance analysis after calculating the energies of each intrinsic mode function (IMF) component. Afterwards, the IMF components significantly influenced by wear degree, while slightly influenced by the three cutting factors (cutting velocity, feed per tooth, and cutting depth), were selected as IMF sensitive to the degree of wear. The HHT was finally applied to the sensitive IMF components of signals containing major tool wear information, thus obtaining the Hilbert marginal spectra of the signals, which were able to reflect the changes in signal amplitude with frequency. On the basis of the Hilbert marginal spectrum, the method defined the feature energy function which was then used as the eigenvector for predicting tool wear in milling processes. The analysis of signals in four tool wear states indicated that the method can extract salient tool wear features.