A fast methodology to quantify electrical-contact behaviour under fretting loading conditions

Fretting wear in electrical contacts is a serious problem in many applications, especially in the automotive industry, but also in other machines exposed to vibration. It can introduce serious electrical problems, mainly the high electrical resistance of connectors, and lead to electrical installation malfunctions. This has led to the development of numerous coating systems consisting of pure metallic materials, noble and non-noble, doped as well as soft coatings. The problem of selecting optimal surface treatment for a particular application remains.To reproduce the environmental conditions of a car engine, a fretting-test machine has been specially designed and built. Using this apparatus, most of the physical conditions, such as relative humidity, temperature, frequency, relative displacement and normal force, can be precisely controlled and monitored. A fast methodology based on incremental variation of the applied displacement amplitude has been used to quantify electrical-contact endurance. Using this approach, one soft, noble coating system and one bulk material system have been studied to determine the influence of contact loading and environmental factors on their performance. Particular attention is devoted to the sliding condition during fretting and its implications for electrical-contact performance.     

Friction and wear behaviour of AISI 5140 steel under rectangular wave loading conditions

Abstract

The tribological characteristics and wear mechanisms of AISI 5140 steel at ambient temperature were investigated using a home built ball on disc tribometer under constant normal loading and rectangular wave loading respectively. The worn surface and wear debris collected from the disc were studied using scanning electron microscope. Results show that the friction coefficients under the constant normal force correspond to the traditional theory. The coefficients all exhibited increased normal loads, whereas under the rectangular wave condition, the highest coefficient appeared when the peak value of the periodically alternative load was 90?N. The different underlying wear mechanism under different loading conditions was explored. It was found that abrasive wear was the main mechanism in the constant loading, whereas severe plastic deformation and adhesive wear were the main wear mechanism in the rectangular wave loading cases. This phenomenon can be attributed to the role of debris in the ‘lubrication’ process under the rectangular wave loading conditions.     

A test method to investigate the tribological behaviour of friction materials under ultrasonic fretting conditions

To investigate and understand the tribological behaviour of high-frequency tribosystems such as ultrasonic motors, a specific test method is necessary. This work reports on the construction of a test machine to evaluate the friction and wear behaviour of friction materials under ultrasonic fretting conditions, as well as giving some representative experimental results. Hard/soft (steel/polymer) and hard/hard (steel/alumina, alumina/alumina) couples were studied with respect to their application as contact materials in ultrasonic motors. Investigation of friction behaviour at high frequencies showed that friction-induced vibrations lead to friction forces of much lower magnitude than predicted by quasistationary friction coefficients obtained for sliding friction. The wear behaviour is characterised by abrasive, adhesive, fatigue and oxidative mechanisms, depending on the mating materials. For polymeric friction materials, the influence of fibre reinforcement and the incorporation of PTFE as a solid lubricant were evaluated. The presence of PTFE resulted in a strong improvement of both friction and wear behaviour.     

The wear behaviour of polymer composite gears

In order to examine the wear of polymer composite gears, a test facility has been developed which has enabled the wear of gear trains to be measured continuously during gear operation. Brief details of the method are given. The purpose of this paper is to report some of the results obtained from this facility and, in particular, to discuss the effect of temperature on the wear of acetal gears.     

The effect of variable amplitude loading on stress distribution within a cylindrical contact subjected to fretting fatigue

A finite element model of a cylindrical Hertzian contact on a test sample subjected to alternating shear loading has been developed. The model has been used to investigate shear stress distributions at the contact during variable amplitude fretting fatigue for a load configuration in which the sample cyclic stress is applied in phase with shear force on the cylindrical contact. It has been found that during constant amplitude cyclic loading, shear stress distributions and positions of the stick-slip boundary at load maxima and minima remain fixed. Application of overloads changes the stress distribution and the position of the stick-slip boundary attained by loading of subsequent cycles. The largest cycle maximum stress determines the position of the stick-slip boundary adopted by subsequent smaller amplitude cycles. In general variable amplitude fretting fatigue the position of the stick-slip boundary will be changing with each load cycle. Hence fatigue initiation processes will occur at locations dispersed over an extended region over the contact. The implications of this behaviour for models for fretting fatigue life calculation are explored.     

Contact size effect on fretting wear behaviour: application to an AISI 52100/AISI 52100 interface

Fretting situations are becoming increasingly important for industrial applications. Fretting wear is defined as a small oscillatory displacement between two contacting bodies. The interface is damaged by debris generation and its ejection from the contact area. In this work, investigations on AISI 52100 steel self‐mated contacts with a ball on flat configuration under dry conditions have been carried out. Fretting tests at a constant maximum Hertzian pressure of 1.1 GPa for different ball diameters have been performed to cover a huge range of contact sizes. A specific experimental procedure is considered to discriminate between the relative impact of the sliding amplitude and the contact size effect. It is shown that a single parameter cannot capture the total interface behaviour. Indeed, an asymptotic decrease in the friction coefficient and wear rate versus the contact size is observed. The increase in the contact area accentuates the implication of third body in the interface. The larger the contact size, the more difficult the debris ejection, the higher the third‐body accommodation, and the lower the coefficient of friction and wear rates. A simple power function is introduced to formalise friction and wear behaviours. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A metallographic examination of rollers subjected to wear under rolling-sliding conditions

Wear rate versus maximum contact pressure p₀ curves were obtained at 3%, 6% and 9% creep for rollers of a fracture tough rail steel (0.40 C-1.46 Mn) that were tested in a twin-disc wear and lubrication machine. Subsurface cracks were observed to form below and above the mild-severe wear transition; these increased in depth and profusion with increasing creep and increasing p₀. Cracks close to the surface are almost parallel with it and eventually break through to form flake-like particles of wear debris. Undeformed inclusions or inclusions with a low index of deformation are considered to be crack initiators, and Al₂O₃ particles were mainly associated with the cracks although more malleable MnS was also found. Tangential contact forces obtained from positive creep and an adequate coefficient of friction are necessary for crack formation. Microhardness tests disclosed that the wear rate appears to correlate with hardness at the extreme surface.     

Friction and wear behavior of human teeth under various wear conditions

Previous reports have described the differences in the friction and wear behavior between different zones of human teeth. The objective of this research was to study the friction and wear behavior of human teeth under different wear conditions to extend the understanding of the tooth wear process, as well as to provide a more rational explanation for wear mechanism of teeth. Two typical wear tests, namely two- and three-body wear, were conducted on human tooth enamel using a reciprocating apparatus. The effect of food particles was of particular interest. Three loads, 10, 20 and 40 N, were used. Wear was assessed by sample wear volume. The results show that human tooth enamel exhibits lower friction and smaller wear volume under three-body wear conditions than under two-body wear conditions. Under three-body wear conditions, although increasing normal load results in a progressive increase in the wear volume of enamel, the increasing rate is lower at high load than that under two-body wear conditions. Further analysis of wear surfaces indicates that human tooth enamel experiences different wear mechanisms under different wear conditions.     

Studies on high temperature wear and its mechanism of Al-Si/graphite composite under dry sliding conditions

Wear behaviours of aluminum silicon alloy and Al-Si/graphite composite were investigated at ambient and elevated temperatures. The trend showed a decrease in wear rate with increase in temperature. The reduction in wear rate was mainly attributed to the formation of glazing layer and oxide layer at higher temperature. This was invariably observed in alloy and composites. In addition, the presence of graphite in composite offered better wear resistance for all temperatures under consideration. The wear due to oxidation was predominant during high temperature sliding.     

Investigation into effects and interaction of various fretting fatigue variables under slip-controlled mode

Fretting fatigue behavior of unpeened and shot-peened Ti–6Al–4 V was investigated using a dual-actuator test setup which was capable of applying an independent pad displacement while maintaining a constant cyclic load on the specimen. The fretting regime was identified based on the shape of the hysteresis loop of tangential force versus relative slip range and the evolution of normalized tangential force. The fretting regime changed from stick to partial slip and then to gross slip with increasing relative slip range, and the transition from partial to gross slip occurred at a relative slip range of 50–60 μm regardless of the applied cyclic load, surface treatment, contact load and contact geometry. The fretting fatigue life initially decreased as the relative slip range increased and reached a minimum value, and then increased with increase of the relative slip range due to the transition in fretting regime from partial slip to gross slip. Shot-peened specimens had longer fatigue life than unpeened specimens at a given relative slip range, but the minimum fatigue life was found to be at the same value of relative slip range for both shot-peened and unpeened specimens. Tangential force was directly related to relative slip and this relationship was independent of other fretting variables.     

Contact fatigue life prediction of a bevel gear under spectrum loading

Rolling contact fatigue (RCF) issues, such as pitting, might occur on bevel gears because load fluctuation induces considerable subsurface stress amplitudes. Such issues can dramatically affect the service life of associated machines. An accurate geometry model of a hypoid gear utilized in the main reducer of a heavy-duty vehicle is developed in this study with the commercial gear design software MASTA. Multiaxial stress–strain states are simulated with the finite element method, and the RCF life is predicted using the Brown–Miller–Morrow fatigue criterion. The patterns of fatigue life on the tooth surface are simulated under various loading levels, and the RCF S–N curve is numerically generated. Moreover, a typical torque–time history on the driven axle is described, followed by the construction of program load spectrum with the rain flow method and the Goodman mean stress equation. The effects of various fatigue damage accumulation rules on fatigue life are compared and discussed in detail. Predicted results reveal that the Miner linear rule provides the most optimistic result among the three selected rules, and the Manson bilinear rule produces the most conservative result.     

Influence of counterbody material on wear of ta-C coatings under fretting conditions at elevated temperatures

The high temperature tribological performance of tetrahedral amorphous carbon coatings has been analyzed at elevated temperatures up to 250 °C in air against three different counterbody materials—steel 100Cr6, α-alumina and silicon nitride. The results show that the counterbody material influences the friction and wear behavior and therefore coating life time strongly. This effect is well known for these coatings at room temperature under dry environmental conditions, equivalent to conditions above 100 °C when water molecules desorb from the surface. However, the sharp difference in tribological performance between silicon nitride on the one hand and alumina and steel on the other hand cannot be understood in this context. Analyzing the friction behavior during the running-in phase, it is evident that only alumina and steel form a stable interface with constant low friction and relatively low wear rates. Silicon nitride forms an unstable interface with fluctuating COF and relatively high wear rates due to its own inherent tendency to tribo-oxidation.     

Comparison of different theoretical models for flash temperature calculation under fretting conditions

The wear and friction properties of tribological interfaces depend significantly on the contact temperature, and its determination is therefore important for each tribological application. Temperature calculation methods available in the literature use quite different physical, dynamic and geometrical assumptions. Furthermore, the assumptions necessary for temperature calculations also include various interfacial properties, which are usually unknown due to many difficulties in their exact determination. It is therefore important to know the possible differences between several frequently used models for flash temperature calculation and also the effect of these pre-assumed input parameters. In the present work the effects of the tribological interface between silicon nitride and steel under dry and boundary lubricated fretting conditions were studied. Effects of the change of thermal properties, as well as the coefficient of friction and the real contact area on the calculated flash temperature are presented. Ten different theoretical models were selected for the purposes of this investigation. The results show crucial differences between the various models and the significant importance of the tribological interface properties on the calculated temperatures. Based on these calculations, supported by experimental evidence, it is clear that their severe limitations must be considered and care in the interpretation of the results taken when such models are used.     

Fretting wear behaviour of polymethylmethacrylate under linear motions and torsional contact conditions

The fretting wear behaviour of PMMA against a rigid counterface has been investigated under various contact zone kinematic conditions. A specific device has been used in order to achieve load axis spin or stationary rolling motions in a contact between a PMMA flat and a steel ball. Wear processes under such conditions have been investigated by means of laser profilometry and in-situ optical observations of the contact area during tests. Very different wear patterns were produced depending on the contact kinematics. For stationary rolling conditions, the progressive accumulation and compaction of debris induced the formation of a single ripple located in the middle of the contact. Very little debris was found to be eliminated from the contact and the resulting wear was quite low. On the other hand, little accumulation of debris was observed for torsional contact conditions and the wear was drastically enhanced. These results are analysed by considering the effects of contact zone kinematics on particle detachment and third body elimination.     

Friction and wear properties of high-velocity oxygen fuel sprayed WC-17Co coating under rotational fretting conditions

Rotational fretting which exist in many engineering applications has incurred enormous economic loss. Thus, accessible methods are urgently needed to alleviate or eliminate damage by rotational fretting. Surface engineering is an effective approach that is successfully adopted to enhance the ability of components to resist the fretting damage. In this paper, using a high-velocity oxygen fuel sprayed(HVOF) technique WC-17 Co coating is deposited on an LZ50 steel surface to study its properties through Vickers hardness testing, scanning electric microscope(SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDX), and X-ray diffractrometry(XRD). Rotational fretting wear tests are conducted under normal load varied from 10 N to 50 N, and angular displacement amplitudes vary from 0.125° to 1°. Wear scars are examined using SEM, EDX, optical microscopy(OM), and surface topography. The experimental results reveal that the WC-17 Co coating adjusted the boundary between the partial slip regime(PSR) and the slip regime(SR) to the direction of smaller amplitude displacement. As a result, the coefficients of friction are consistently lower than the substrate's coefficients of friction both in the PSR and SR. The damage to the coating in the PSR is very slight. In the SR, the coating exhibits higher debris removal efficiency and load-carrying capacity. The bulge is not found for the coating due to the coating's higher hardness to restrain plastic flow. This research could provide experimental bases for promoting industrial application of WC-17 Co coating in prevention of rotational fretting wear.     

Friction and wear of Inconel 690 for steam generator tube in elevated temperature water under fretting condition

Recently, material of Inconel 690TT (thermal treatment) for the steam generator tubes in a nuclear power plant was substituted for the existing material of Inconel 600HTMA (high temperature mill-annealing). Inconel 690TT has more chromium than Inconel 600HTMA in order to improve the corrosion resistance. In this study, to evaluate the friction and wear characteristics of Inconel 690TT under fretting condition, the fretting tests as well as sliding tests were carried out in air and in elevated temperature water environment, respectively. Fretting tests of the cross-cylinder type were done under various applied normal loads, and sliding tests of pin-on-disk type were also carried out to compare with the results of the fretting test. In summary, the results of the fretting tests correlated with the results of the sliding tests. The wear mechanism of Inconel 690TT in air was delamination wear and the mechanism in water was affected by micro-pitting. Also, it was found that the fretting wear coefficients in water were increased with increase in the temperature of water.     

Role of MoS2 morphology on wear and friction under spectrum loading conditions

One of the ways by which grease is evaluated is by using a four‐ball wear test using ASTM D2266. However, actual applications may require bearings to be subjected to spectrum loading conditions. This study focuses on using ball milling to mitigate the wear from sharp edges in the MoS₂ particles. Two different blends of greases were formulated using MoS₂ in the as‐received state (unmilled) and milled MoS₂; they were tested under spectrum loading conditions where the load and frequency of the tests were treated as variables. It was found that ball milling of the MoS₂ significantly reduces the wear under spectrum loading condition both for ramp‐up and ramp‐down conditions. It was also shown that shortening the time step for both the ramp‐up and ramp‐down cycles resulted in larger wear for unmilled MoS₂ particles in comparison with milled MoS₂ particles in grease. The milling process did not play a significant role when frequency of the test was either ramped up or down. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sliding wear of cast zinc-based alloy bearings under static and dynamic loading conditions

The lubricated wear behaviour of cast journal bearings, produced from a series of zinc-based alloys and SAE 660 bronze as a reference material, was investigated under both static and dynamic loading conditions using a bearing test rig. All of the zinc-based alloys had higher wear resistance than the SAE 660 bronze. Among the zinc-based alloys, the wear resistance of the monotectoid-based alloys was superior to those based on near-eutectoid composition, and the best wear performance under both static and dynamic loading conditions was obtained with ZnAl40Cu2Si1 alloy. Copper content affected the wear resistance of monotectoid zinc-based alloys. Under dynamic loading conditions, it increased with increasing copper content up to 2%, but declined thereafter. Tensile properties and hardness of the monotectoid alloys were also affected by their copper content. Loading conditions had a strong influence on the wear rate. Under static loading conditions, as-cast zinc-based alloys showed higher wear resistance than the equivalent heat-treated alloys, but this behaviour was reversed for dynamic loading. Possible reasons for this are briefly discussed.