Effect of surface texturing on rolling contact fatigue within mixed lubricated non-conformal rolling/sliding contacts

The rolling contact fatigue (RCF) life of highly loaded machine components is significantly influenced by the surface roughness features so that there is a continuous effort to design the topography of rubbing surfaces to enhance lubrication efficiency and prolong the operation of machine components. It can be suggested from the recent experimental results that lubricant emitted from shallow micro-dents could effectively lift off the real roughness features and reduce the asperities interactions within rolling/sliding mixed lubricated contacts. Thereby the additional supply of lubricant from surface features could help to reduce the risk of surface damage through the reduction of the interaction of rubbing surfaces during start-up or starvation. However, the introduction of such roughness features into the rubbing surfaces of highly loaded non-conformal contacts should consider not only the effects on lubrication film thickness but also on RCF.That is why this study is focused on the effects of surface texturing on RCF within non-conformal rolling/sliding contacts operated under mixed lubrication conditions. The principal task has been whether possible beneficial effect on film thickness is not accompanied by the reduction in RCF life. Textures with various sizes of micro-dents and their arrangement within the contacts have been considered. It has been found that results obtained with textured surfaces have exhibited no obvious reduction in RCF. Conversely, some increase in RCF using textured surfaces was observed that could be attributed to the positive contribution of micro-dents working as lubricant micro-reservoirs that reduce asperities interactions. Nevertheless, further experiments are necessary to confirm this possible beneficial contribution of surface texturing on RCF.     

Simple equation for elastohydrodynamic film thickness under acceleration

A simple approximation of EHD film thickness under varying speed conditions is proposed. The equation is based on continuity of flow, by which the film formed at the contact inlet moves downstream within the contact with little subsequent change in its thickness even though the boundary velocities are changing. The approximation is supported by experimental results of non-steady state film thickness measurement using ultra-thin film interferometry. It is also shown by numerical simulation that the approximation holds for film thickness in the rigid piezoviscous regime under line contact so long as the squeeze film effect is insignificant.     

Behavior of thin viscous boundary films in lubricated contacts between micro-textured surfaces

Thin film colorimetric interferometry was used to map changes in film thickness in the vicinity of micro-dents of various depths produced on rubbing surfaces. It has been shown in recent studies that shallow micro-features within concentrated contact can increase mean film thickness by supplying more lubricant to the contact; however, this beneficial effect can also be accompanied by a local film thickness reduction. Nevertheless, these observations were done with mineral base oils that exhibited no boundary films formation. In this study the behavior of micro-textured surfaces are observed using formulated lubricant containing polyalcylmethacrylate (PAMA), viscosity index improver with boundary film forming properties. Obtained results show that an enlarged film thickness due to the presence of viscous boundary films is formed within the whole contact and these boundary films minimize the local film thickness reduction caused by micro-dents and further increase the efficiency of surface texturing within non-conformal contacts. It can be suggested from the obtained results that joint action of both boundary film formation and surface texturing combines both contributions that can help to increase tribological performances in different stages of machine parts operation by increasing lubrication film thickness.     

Effect of geometrical parameters in micro-grooved crosshatch pattern under lubricated sliding friction

Tribological test was carried out using a pin-on-disc geometry with textured SKD11 pin on bearing steel disc, under sliding in paraffin oil. Micro-grooved crosshatch pattern has been fabricated with various angles and widths. The effects of geometrical parameters on friction were mainly examined in mixed and elastohydrodynamic lubrication. The results show that friction control can be achieved by fabricating the micro-grooved crosshatch pattern on a contact surface. It is observed that each geometrical parameter of texture influence on friction, especially decrease of groove aspect ratio and increases of groove sliding length show friction reduction performance. Crucial parameter G_l was proposed for micro-grooved crosshatch texture. The friction mechanism is explained by micro fluid flow with limited theoretical approach.     

The effect of surface texturing in soft elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication

A theoretical model is developed to study the potential use of laser surface texturing (LST) in the form of spherical micro-dimples for soft elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication (SEHL). The model consists of mutual smooth elastomeric and LST rigid surfaces moving relatively to each other in the presence of viscous lubricant. The pressure distribution in the fluid film and the elastic deformations of the elastomer are obtained from a simultaneous solution of the Reynolds equation and the equation of elasticity for the elastomer. An extensive parametric investigation is performed to identify the main important parameters of the problem, which are the aspect ratio and area density of the dimples. The parametric analysis provides optimum parameters of the surface texturing and shows that LST effectively increases load capacity and reduces friction in SEHL.     

Effect of shot peening on rolling contact fatigue and lubricant film thickness within mixed lubricated non-conformal rolling/sliding contacts

The effect of shot peening on rolling contact fatigue (RCF) and lubricant film thickness within non-conformal rolling/sliding contacts operated under mixed lubrication conditions was observed in this study. Rolling contact fatigue tests and film thickness measurements were carried out using specimens with modified surface topography by shot peening process using glass beads having diameter between 0.07 and 0.11 mm. It has been shown that the effect of shot peening on RCF has no positive effect even if shot peened surface of the roller exhibited somewhat higher hardness in contrast to the grounded surface. The reduction of RCF may be caused due to asperities interactions because after shot peening the surface roughness of the roller was increased. Film thickness measurements confirmed that the contact is realized actually only between asperity peaks of shot peened ball and smooth disc.Conversely, no negative effect on RCF was observed when the shot peened surface of the roller was polished. The polish of asperity peaks causes the creation of lands and micro-cavities, which may be employed as lubricant micro-reservoirs. From film thickness measurements it has been observed that lubricant emitted by shallow micro-cavities can provide the local increase in lubrication film thickness, which thereby reduces asperities interactions. Similar results were obtained for start-up conditions where the squeeze lubricant enlarges film thickness and reduces surface interactions.From the obtained results, it can be suggested that properly designed surface topography modification could help to increase the efficiency of lubrication films leading to the enhancement of contact fatigue life of non-conformal mixed lubricated rolling/sliding contacts.     

An Experimental Validation of the Recently Discovered Scale Effect in Generalized Newtonian EHL

New quantitative numerical simulations of the elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) film forming ability of generalized Newtonian liquids have elucidated a previously unrecognized property of EHL films. The dependency of the film thickness on the scale of the contact is greater when the viscosity is shear dependent within the inlet. Measurements of film thickness were performed in a ball on disc experiment using balls ranging from 5.5 to 35 mm in diameter. Three liquids were investigated with varying shear dependence in the range of stress important to film forming. The experimental results confirm the previous analytical findings. Numerical simulations using the measured viscosities show that the increased scale sensitivity is substantially the result of shear-thinning. However, the smallest scales produced films thinner than even the shear-dependent prediction, possibly indicating molecular degradation. It is quite likely that some machine components, which were designed using the effective viscous properties derived from a larger scale film thickness measurement, are operating with substantially lower film thickness than the designer had intended.     

Effect of surface texturing on the elastohydrodynamic lubrication analysis of metal-on-metal hip implants

With the development of surface processing techniques, applications of bearing components have been introduced with specific surface textures to take advantage of lubrication.An advanced numerical model was established to simulate the mixed EHL problem of a metal-on-metal hip prosthesis with dimpled surface texturing. The surface texture with simple cylindrical dimples was numerically simulated, under both steady state and walking conditions.The present results showed that surface texturing may have a potentially beneficial effect on the reduction of asperity contact ratio and the improvement of lubrication performance of metal-on-metal hip replacements, particularly under predominant boundary lubrication conditions.     

Effects of laser surface texturing on friction behavior of silicon nitride under lubrication with water

Water lubrication is one of the candidates of the tribo-system with low negative environmental impact. It is well known that some kinds of ceramics show excellent tribological properties under lubrication with water. The characteristic improvement was attempted by giving texturing to Si₃N₄ so that the water lubrication might spread as a representative of the ecotribology system. The surface laser texturing showed the friction reducing effect under the sliding condition of the low bearing characteristic number. The mechanism of the triblogical property improvement by the laser surface texturing was discussed based on the experiment results and the surface analytical results.     

The effect of laser surface texturing on transitions in lubrication regimes during unidirectional sliding contact

Laser surface texturing (LST) is an emerging effective method for improving the tribological performance of friction units lubricated with oil. In LST technology, a pulsating laser beam is used to create thousands of arranged microdimples on a surface by a material ablation process. These dimples generate hydrodynamic pressure between oil-lubricated parallel sliding surfaces. The impact of LST on lubricating-regime transitions was investigated in this study. Tribological experiments were conducted with a pin-on-disk apparatus at sliding speeds in the range of 0.015–0.75 m/s and nominal contact pressures that ranged from 0.16 to 1.6 MPa. Two oils with different viscosities (54.8 and 124.7 cSt at 40 °C) were used as lubricants. The test results showed that laser texturing expanded the contact parameters in terms of load and speed for hydrodynamic lubrication, as indicated by friction transitions on the Stribeck curve. The beneficial effects of laser surface texturing are more pronounced at higher speeds and loads and with higher viscosity oil.     

Experimental investigation of transient and thermal effects on lubricated non‐conformal contacts

In this work, thermal and transient effects on non‐conformal lubricated contacts are investigated through experimental analyses. Experiments between a ball and a plane surface of a disc are described. Friction coefficients and film thicknesses are measured (the film thickness only for the glass‐on‐steel contact). A paraffin base mineral oil is used as a lubricant. First experiments are carried out under steady‐state conditions. To include effects due to different thermal properties of contacting materials, a steel‐on‐steel and a glass‐on‐steel contact with different slide‐to‐roll ratios are tested. If the contacting materials have different thermal properties, as in the case of a glass‐on‐steel contact, thermal effects like the temperature–viscosity wedge action could clearly be shown. It is found that the friction coefficients are influenced by the slide‐to‐roll ratio and the thermal properties of the contacting materials. Under transient conditions, the entraining velocity is varied with a sinusoidal law. Squeeze effects explain ‘loops’ of friction and film thickness found also in previous works. The formation of friction loops is related to the measured film thickness differences. However, also under non‐steady‐state conditions, thermal effects, like the temperature–viscosity wedge action, influence the friction coefficients. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

钛合金高速铣削表面完整性研究

研究了钛合金TC4的高速铣削。着重讨论了高速铣削钛合金TC4已加工表面完整性的问题,重点研究了表面粗糙度、表面变质层等因素对表面完整性的影响。研究结果表明,切削速度在v=200～350m/min范围,钛合金TC4高速铣削获得的加工表面完整性较好。     

Experimental and numerical investigation on the behavior of transverse limited micro-grooves in EHL point contacts

This study presents experimental and numerical investigations on the effects of transverse limited micro-grooves on the behavior of film thickness and friction in EHL point contacts. The tribological performance has been compared for smooth and textured surfaces in sliding and reciprocating motion and under starvation. The measurements were conducted by using a ball-on-disk tribometer equipped with a high speed camera and torque sensor. The results show that the transverse shallow micro-grooves with a length less than the diameter of the Hertzian contact are efficiently able to enhance the film thickness under different operating conditions. The beneficial effect under starved lubrication requires a mechanism for filling the depleted micro-grooves entering the contact with fresh lubricant. This mechanism can be attributed to the capillary effect in the inlet zone under starvation. The numerical simulation of the transient behavior of transverse limited micro-grooves shows agreement with experimental results. On the other hand, introducing micro-grooves as closed texture cells on one of rubbing surfaces results in a friction reduction in the reciprocating motion. The reduction of friction is substantially attributed to the film thickness enhancement.     

A comprehensive analysis of the conduction-dominated transient contact melting on an isothermal surface

This paper focuses on the development of a comprehensive analytical model for the conduction-dominated transient contact melting occurring on an isothermal surface, in which emphasis is placed on the treatment of an arbitrary strength of the external force. For a small Stefan number, the proposed model agrees reasonably not only with the exact solution for non-contact melting but also with the existing numerical data for close-contact melting. Normalization of the model equations with reference to the steady solution makes it possible to pick up a single consolidated parameterG by which the constrained melting processes can be effectively classified into three regimes: non-contact, intermediate and close-contact. Taking advantage of the approximate analytical solution available for close-contact melting, the value of demareation between the regimes of intermediate and close-contact melting is found to beG=10³. It is also revealed for the first time that in the intermediate regime the contact melting system approaches the steady state passing through a damped oscillation.     

铝合金高速切削表面粗糙度的实验研究

使用硬质合金刀具对LY12高强度铝合金进行了高速精密切削试验。研究了切削条件、切削用量对加工表面粗糙度的影响。高速切削试验表明:提高切削速度与减小进给量有利于改善铝合金工件的加工表面质量;当切削速度超过某一范围后,随着切削速度的进一步提高,加工表面粗糙度的降低并不明显。     

Effects of surface texturing on friction and vibration behaviors of sliding lubricated concentrated point contacts under linear reciprocating motion

Friction and vibration behaviors of lubricated concentrated point contacts with surface texturing have been experimentally investigated under reciprocating motions. Ground, lapped and textured lapped flat surfaces are tested against polished ball surfaces. Coefficient of friction, surface temperature, electrical resistance and vibrations at the lubricated contacts have been measured and analyzed. In the presence of surface texture, the coefficient of friction reduces by 30% in some of the cases. Surface temperature distributions on reciprocating tracks have also been measured and compared. Vibrations associated with lubricated point contacts formed between textured surfaces/balls reduce significantly at resonance frequency in comparison to polished surfaces/balls.     

吹气条件对石墨高速铣削过程的影响

在石墨高速铣削加工过程中采用合适的吹气及吸尘装置,可有效减小刀具磨损,提高加工质量.通过改变石墨高速铣削过程中的吹气条件,包括气流的喷射角度、距离和压力,对比了有无吹气条件时石墨切屑形式和吸附情况,精确测量切削后分布在工件和刀具表面的石墨粉屑质量,研究了切削速度、进给速度、轴向切削深度和径向切削深度等切削参数对石墨切屑吸附情况的影响,分析了石墨切屑的运动方式及吸附情况对石墨高速铣削加工过程的影响.     

高速车削工件表面形貌及其粗糙度特征的试验研究

借助于扫描电镜照片、已加工样品表面形貌轮廓描绘和试验数据处理等手段,对高速车削工件已加工表面形貌与其表面粗糙度之间的关系以及它们的形成特征进行了分析研究.研究结果表明,切削速度和被切削材料的硬度是决定高速车削过程中被切削层材料变形和已加工表面形貌及其表面粗糙度形成的主要因素,随着被切削材料硬度和切削速度的提高,工件已加工表面质量在一定程度上得到了改善.在已加工表面上出现了犁垄和高速加工所特有的熔融金属涂抹现象,由此决定着已加工表面粗糙度值的变化.     

Effect of Lubricant Viscosity and Type on Ball Fatigue Life

Two separate investigations were conducted to determine the effect of lubricants on the fatigue life of M-1 tool steel balls in the rolling contact fatigue spin rig. In the first investigation four paraffinic mineral oils with viscosities of 5 to 113 centistokes at the 100F test temperature were used. Longer life was obtained with more viscous oil, life varying approximately as the 0.2 power of lubricant viscosity. In the second investigation of methyl silicone, a paraffinic mineral oil, a sebacate, a water base glycol and an adipate, each of which had a viscosity of about 10 centistokes at the 100F test temperature, were used. The 10 per cent life was about 40 times as great with the silicone (best) as with the adipate (poorest). The life results correlated fairly well with the pressure viscosity characteristics as estimated from lubricants of the same base stocks.     

Surface initiated fatigue of pearlitic and bainitic steels under water lubricated rolling/sliding contact

The rolling contact fatigue behavior of steels that are, or could be, used for railroad rails is reviewed. Laboratory tests that reproduce the type of cracks observed in service rails have been employed to study the effects of maximum Hertzian contact pressure and slide/roll ratio on fatigue performance under water lubricated conditions. A comparison has been made of pearlitic and low/medium carbon, carbide free, bainitic steels. The development of ratchetting strains has been investigated and an empirical model produced.