The Role of Surface Films in the Frictional Behavior of Lubricated and “Dry” Contacts—A Unifying Influence in Tribological Theory

The paper identifies the essential physical ingredients of tribological systems. Using a simple model incorporating surface roughness and a surface film, the general behavior of both solid and lubricated films may be anticipated. Nonetheless, several important gaps in our physical knowledge of contacts are identified. Further work in these areas would greatly enhance the concepts presented in this paper.     

Micropitting Modelling in Rolling–Sliding Contacts: Application to Rolling Bearings

In this article an engineering approach is described to model micropitting in rolling–sliding, heavily loaded lubricated contacts. The competitive mechanism between surface fatigue and mild wear is captured in the present approach as well as the effects of deterministic surface microgeometry (e.g., roughness). The fatigue model is based on the Dang Van fatigue criterion and the mild wear model uses a modified Archard approach. The complete modeling scheme is validated experimentally first using laboratory-controlled conditions, where the surface topography is varied as well as the operating conditions in the contact. Then the model is applied to describe the behavior of full-bearing tests. The behavior of the model agrees well with the experimental observations, qualitatively.     

An Experimental Study on the Concentration and Shape of Dents Caused by Spherical Metallic Particles in EHL Contacts©

An experimental study of metallic contaminant effects on surface indentation in EHL contacts is presented. Particles are initially spherical and are composed of M50 high-carbon steel powder. Their diameter ranges from 32 to 40 μm. An original lubrication system with a controlled level of contamination was built. The contaminant distribution and concentration are measured on-line by an automatic particle counter. Tests are conducted on a two-disk machine with different operating conditions. Particles may travel through the EHL contact only one time, the lubricant flow being used only once. The oil is a synthetic one qualified under the MIL-L-23699 specification. An optical profilometer is used to describe the indent topography and a CCD video camera to count the number of dents.

The test bench is described and the experimental procedure is presented. Specific tests were performed to quality the contamination bench. The combined effects of particles concentration and test duration on dent distribution were studied. Some results on the shape and concentration of indents versus operating conditions are presented. It is shown that over the range of test conditions considered, the number of indents on the raceways can be estimated from the particle concentration in the oil bulk. This leads to the conclusion that the particle entry ratio is close to one, i.e., the concentration of particles inside the EHL contact is close to those in the bulk.     

Investigating the Lubricity and Electrical Insulation Caused by Sanding in Dry Wheel–Rail Contacts

The adhesion (or available friction) in the wheel–rail contact is the most important parameter for the braking and traction operation of rail vehicles. Since the beginning of railway transportation, sanding from the locomotive has been a common practice to enhance the wheel–rail adhesion. In recent years, sanding from electrical multiple units (EMUs) and sand-based friction modifiers (FMs) have been adopted in some railway networks to overcome low adhesion incidents caused by leaf contamination in autumn. Although sanding has been proven to improve the adhesion under most of the typical contamination conditions, laboratory and field investigations have shown that sand may act as a solid lubricant in dry wheel–rail contacts. Nevertheless, the influence of the current sanding parameters on the solid lubrication effect has not been entirely investigated. Depending on the resulting adhesion coefficient, the traction and braking operations of rail vehicles could be affected. Furthermore, the influence of those parameters on the electrical insulation is also of special importance because it may affect the train detection. This article presents a laboratory investigation of the influence of three sanding parameters (i.e., feed rate, particle size, and slip) on the adhesion and electrical insulation in dry wheel–rail contacts. The tests have been carried out with a twin-disk roller rig in rolling-sliding motion under closely controlled conditions. Three different slips representative of the actual traction and braking operations have been considered. Sands of four different sizes and up to five feed rates have been used. The results show that using smaller particle sizes and higher feed rates promotes the lubrication and causes more electrical insulation in the wheel–rail contact. Furthermore, the increase in slip is found to reduce the lubrication, leading to a higher adhesion coefficient.     

Sensitivity of μ of Friction Materials to Load and Speed under Dry Sliding and Water Lubricated Conditions

The tribological behavior of friction materials is complex under various operating conditions. The present article discusses the sensitivity of tribological behaviors of friction materials to load and speed under dry and water-lubricated conditions qualitatively and μ of values was also analyzed quantitatively based on regression analysis. The friction and wear behaviors of friction materials were evaluated on a ring-on-block-type test rig. It was observed that the material itself was the dominant factor in μ sensitivity of friction materials, followed by sliding speed. The influence of the interaction of load and speed was negligible under water-lubricated condition. The friction coefficient of the composite was less sensitive to operating parameters under water-lubricated condition.     

Application of Computational Fluid Dynamics and Fluid–Structure Interaction Method to the Lubrication Study of a Rotor–Bearing System

Computational methods were used to analyse the elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication of a complex rotor–bearing system. The methodology employed computational fluid dynamics (CFD), based on the Navier–Stokes equation and a fluid–structure interaction (FSI) technique. A series of models representing the system were built using the CFD–FSI methodology to investigate the interaction between the lubrication of the fluid film, and elastic dynamics of the rotor and journal bearing. All models followed an assumption of isothermal behaviour. The FSI methodology was implemented by setting nodal forces and displacements to equilibrium at the fluid–structure interface, therefore allowing the lubrication of the fluid and the elastic deformation of structures to be solved simultaneously. This is significantly different to the more common techniques—such as the Reynolds equation method—that use an iterative solution to balance the imposed load and the force resulting from the pressure of the fluid film to within a set tolerance. Predictions using the CFD–FSI method were compared with the results of an experimental study and the predictions from an ‘in-house’ lubrication code based on the Reynolds equation. The dynamic response of the system was investigated with both rigid and flexible bodies for a range of different bearing materials and dynamic unbalanced loads. Cavitation within the fluid film was represented in the CFD–FSI method using a simplified phase change boundary condition. This allowed the transition between the liquid and vapour phases to be derived from the lubricant’s properties as a function of pressure. The combination of CFD and FSI was shown to be a useful tool for the investigation of the hydrodynamic and elasto-hydrodynamic lubrications of a rotor–bearing system. The elastic deformation of the bearing and dynamic unbalanced loading of the rotor had significant effects on the position of its locus.     

Application of NURBS for Obtaining Free Form Curves and Surfaces in Spur and Helical Gears by Using CMM （Coordinate Measurement Machine）

Currently, engineering processes require reduced manufacturing time and low cost, in addition to the growing demand for workpieces with high accuracy. Workpieces with complex geometries and free forms has been a common practice in industries from different sectors such as： automotive, aeronautics, bioengineering among others. One way to satisfy the market requirements satisfactorily is making measurements more efficient to make the production process faster, in other words, it is necessary to make the inspection system more accurate and flexible. The coordinate measuring evolved over the past three decades and today it is the technology that best meets the requirements of modem manufacturing through CMMs （coordinate measurement machines）. The CMMs are important tool for design, fabrication and inspection of manufactured products, also used in the application of reverse engineering. These machines are also used by engineers in order to produce an accurate digital model in a virtual space for later use in CAD （computer-aided design）/CAM （computer-aided manufacturing）. It is worth mentioning that the accuracy of the modeling process of given piece depends on the number of control points that are captured on the workpiece surface. Consequently, the laser inspection systems are the best tools for use in reverse engineering, but more expensive when compared to contact measurement systems that use the TTP （touch trigger probe）, also used by CMMs. In this case, this paper aims to present an approach based on NURBS （non-uniform rational B-splines） to obtain free form curves and surfaces from a group of points obtained by using a contact sensor, the touch trigger probe. NURBS is an important mathematical tool and consists of generalizations of Bezier curves and surfaces and B-splines. The approach proposed in this paper can be applied for obtaining free form curves and surfaces in spur and helical gears. Experimental results obtained by measuring spur gears showed that the NURBS technique contributes     

Application of the amended Coriolis flowmeter “bubble theory” to sound propagation and attenuation in aerosols and hydrosols

The existing viscous and incompressible theory of isothermal sound propagation and attenuation in suspensions considers solid particles which are infinitely viscous. We extend the theory by applying the amended Coriolis flowmeter “bubble theory”. Here, the drag force is a function of both the fluid and particle Stokes numbers and the particle-to-fluid ratio of the dynamic viscosity (Galindo and Gerbeth, 1993). Aerosol and hydrosol examples are presented and differences between the original and extended theories are discussed.     

Application of α-spectrometry to the study of U diffusion in nuclear reactor materials

An experimental method used to study U diffusion at infinite dilution in materials is presented in this work. The spectra of α particles emitted by U at different depth in the material, after the diffusion annealing, is converted into diffusion profiles combining the knowledge on the stopping power of α-particles coming from particles accelerators into an algorithm developed here.     

Tribological Performance of Halogen-Free Ionic Liquids in Steel–Steel and DLC–DLC Contacts

The tribological performance of halogen-free ionic liquids at steel–steel and diamond-like carbon (DLC)–DLC contacts was investigated. Hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) and tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) were used as test specimens. Friction tests were carried out on steel–steel, a-C:H–a-C:H, and ta-C–ta-C contacts by using a reciprocating cylinder-on-disk tribotester lubricated with two different types of halogen-free ionic liquids: 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide ([BMIM][DCN]) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tricyanomethanide ([BMIM][TCC]). From the results of friction tests, the ta-C–ta-C tribopair lubricated with [BMIM][DCN] or [BMIM][TCC] exhibited an ultralow friction coefficient of 0.018–0.03. On the other hand, ultralow friction was not observed at the steel–steel and a-C:H–a-C:H contacts. Measurements obtained with a laser scanning microscope and an atomic force microscope (AFM) showed that a chemical reaction film, derived from the ionic liquid lubricant used, was formed on the steel surfaces. However, this chemical reaction film was not observed on either of the DLC surfaces. The AFM results showed that there were high-viscosity products on the ta-C surfaces, that the wear tracks on the ta-C surfaces exhibited low frictional properties, and that the ta-C surfaces were extremely smooth after the friction tests. Based on these results, it was concluded that an ionic liquid–derived adsorbed film formed on the ta-C surface and resulted in the ultralow friction when lubricated with a halogen-free ionic liquid.     

Polarographic Reduction Wave of Hemoglobin and its Application to Micro‐Determination

Abstract

An adsorptive reduction wave of hemoglobin at about ?1.43 V (vs. SCE), in phosphate buffer solution, pH 6.8, was found by using single sweep polarography. Based on this wave, a simple, rapid, and reliable polarographic method for hemoglobin determination was developed. The wave height is linearly proportional to the concentration of hemoglobin in the range of 1.0–28 mg/L (correlation coefficient 0.997). The detection limit is 0.5 mg/L. Serum albumin, common amino acids, and metal ions present no interference with the hemoglobin determination.

The proposed method was applied to the determination of hemoglobin in human blood samples with satisfactory results. The polarographic wave is attributed to the direct reduction of hemoglobin at the dropping mercury electrode. The new method could be useful in biochemical, clinical, and pharmaceutical analysis.     

Distribution of Fe and adsorption of NH3in mordenite:a computational study

采用色散校正密度泛函方法(DFT-D2)研究了Fe同晶取代进入丝光沸石骨架中的可能位置及其对NH3分子的吸附。结果表明,Fe优先取代位是T1O6位,然后依次是T2O5,T4O2和T3O1位,且能量差小于0.09 eV,说明Fe可能分布在四种非等价晶体T位,而且电荷平衡质子的位置影响Fe取代位的稳定性。本文还采用DFT和DFT-D2方法计算了NH3分子在每一个Fe取代的T位的吸附能。通过比较发现,DFT低估了NH3的吸附能约0.53 eV,这表明DFT-D2方法对于NH3吸附是很有必要的,且结果与文献相符,T2O5位的Brnsted酸性最强,NH3在Brnsted酸位的吸附比在Lewis酸位的吸附更稳定。     

Theoretical Analysis of Piston-Ring Lubrication Part II—Starved Lubrication and Its Application to a Complete Ring Pack

Most studies of piston-ring lubrication assume fully flooded lubrication in the cylinder-bore and piston-ring conjunction. However, the lubricant supply is not always adequate for fully flooded lubrication. This study incorporates the effects of lubricant starvation into the one-dimensional piston-ring analysis developed earlier and applies it to a complete ring pack. A system of three nonlinear equations is derived to solve the starved lubrication problem. A postulate for lubricant transport in a complete ring pack is also proposed. A computer code is developed to apply the starved lubrication model to a complete ring pack.

The findings reveal that lubricant starvation has an important effect on the minimum film thickness of a ring pack, especially at mid-stroke for compression rings. The role of oil-control rings and the evaluation of ring performance as a complete ring pack are also discussed.     

Use of the Roughness Parameters Ssk and Sku to Control Friction—A Method for Designing Surface Texturing

The aim of this work was to show that with the use of the surface roughness parameters S_sk and S_ku we can predict tribological behavior of contact surfaces and use these parameters to plan surface texturing. This article presents a continuation of our research on virtual texturing and experimental work on surface textures in the form of channels. For this investigation, steel samples were laser surface textured in the shape of dimples with different spacings between the dimples and different dimple depths. The experimental results confirmed that the parameters S_sk and S_ku can be used to design the surface texturing, where a higher value of S_ku and more negative S_sk lead to lower friction.     

EHL Performance of the Lubricant With Shear Strength: Part I — Boundary Slippage and Film Failure

This paper analytically investigates the isothermal line contact elastohydrodynamic lubrication of three lubricants with much different shear strengths under the nondimensional operating parameters of w = 2.15e-4 and U = 2.53e-10 applying the lubricant ideal viscoplastic rheological model. The boundary slippage of the low-shear-strength lubricant occurring in the EHL inlet zone was found and results in a much thinner film compared to the classical EHL theory prediction. The film boundary slippage and its growth with the slide/roll ratio variation of tile low-shear\- strength lubricant exhibit special phenomena, which are much different from those of the high-shear-strength lubricant. The easy occurrence of film failure in concentrated contact in the case of high sliding speed, heavy load, large slide/roll ratio, and low-shear-strength lubricant was concluded due to the severe friction heating on the surface conjunction and the lubricant thermal desorption on tile lubricant/surface boundary. The EHL film failure mechanism was further recognized.     

Specific Film Thickness—A Closer Examination of the Effects of EHL Film Thickness and Surface Roughness on Bearing Fatigue

Analysis of literature bearing-fatigue life results shows that fatigue life is not a simple function of the widely accepted specific film thickness, λ, which is the ratio of the EHL film thickness h to composite surface roughness [sgrave]. Instead, the influence of film thickness on bearing life increases with increasing surface roughness; at about 0.20 micrometer (8 microinch) composite roughness life increases with the square root of h while at about 0.46 micrometer (18 microinches) life increases with h squared.

The negative effect of surface roughness on bearing life appears to be relatively independent of film thickness. This suggests that surface roughness affects fatigue life by some mechanism in addition to the degree of interaction of asperities through an intervening EHL film. Additional test results are needed to confirm this point.     

A New Method and Apparatus for High-Resolution γ-Radiographic Introscopy of Bulk Heavy-Metal Products and Blanks. First Application Results

Russian Journal of Nondestructive Testing - A $$\gamma $$-introscopy method and an installation using “electronic focusing” of $$\gamma $$-quanta transmitted through the studied object...