Inertial contributions to friction measurements in thrust bearings

Surface textures decrease friction in lubricated sliding contact. Traditionally, the friction reduction for a given textured surface is determined by using the Reynolds equation, which neglects fluid inertia. However, as the separation and relative motion between the surfaces increase, inertia can affect the measured tangential and normal forces for flow over a textured surface, and thus cause the coefficient of friction to differ from the purely viscous, Stokes flow prediction. Here, the increase in torque and normal force between a moving plate and stationary textured surface, which simulates a textured thrust bearing, are calculated as a function of the Reynolds number in the thin film limit. The predictions for a non-textured thrust bearing are compared to fully 3-D numerical simulations of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation, and the predictions for textured thrust bearings are compared to experimental data given in the literature. Good agreement is seen between the predictions and the data, validating the predicted scaling laws. This work also suggests that inertia can be used as a secondary effect to reduce friction in lubricated sliding, and textures that take advantage of the inertial effects will have lower friction than textures that only use purely viscous effects.

Tribological Behavior and Surface Characterization of Gray Cast Iron-EN31 Steel under Lubricated Sliding Conditions

This research investigates the tribological behavior of gray cast iron against EN31 steel under lubricated conditions. The most typical lubricated sliding phenomena are the reduction of wear on both the sliding surfaces and any one of the critical surfaces. Static and hydrodynamic wear can be reduced based on fluid properties or the accessibility of fluid between the surfaces. The oil’s viscosity or content of the hydrocarbon and additives present in the oil plays a major role in controlling the wear of reciprocating surfaces. Therefore, this research work focused on metal-to-metal contact wear under the influence of lubricating oil (40 pride oil). The Taguchi method was used to select the sliding parameter combinations. Lubricated sliding resulted in a relatively reduced order of friction coefficient, attributable to better load distribution due to the formation of the lubricant film.

Friction, Scuffing and Transfer Layer Formation in Lubricated Sliding of EN31 Steel and Tungsten Carbide (WC): Surface Topography Effects

Surface topographies play a critical role in controlling friction, surface damage and transfer layer formation in engineering applications; hence understanding this is of great importance. In this work, experimental studies were carried out to understand the influence of surface topography on friction, scuffing and transfer layer formation in completely immersed lubricated sliding interactions. For this, sliding experiments were carried out in sphere on flat configuration using EN31 steel flats and Tungsten Carbide pin countersurface. Perpendicular and parallel surface topographies were induced onto the steel flats. Experiments were conducted at high normal loads of 1000N, 2000N and 3000N. The results show that Surface topography has a significant influence on the frictional response. When the topography directionality was perpendicular to the sliding direction, scuffing was observed only at a high load of 3000N. A ‘peak friction’ was also observed during the occurrence of scuffing. When the directionality in topography was parallel to sliding direction, scuffing and surface damage occurred from 2000N itself, accompanied by a high amount of transfer layer formation. This can be attributed to the directionality of parallel topography, which displaces away the lubricant during sliding interaction, creating metal-to-metal contact and hence leading to scuffing and higher transfer layer formation.

Influence of the running-in process on the working ability of contact surfaces in lubricated sliding conditions

The influence of the running-in process operating parameters on tribological properties of the block-on-disc samples in lubricated sliding conditions is analyzed and discussed in detail. Different running-in regimes are achieved by varying the normal load and sliding speed. After the running-in period, during which the operating parameters are varied, all samples are placed in a working regime under the same set of operating conditions. At the end of the running-in period, as well as at the end of the working period, an analysis of the changes in the surface roughness, microhardness, wear rate, and coefficient of friction is performed. Less desirable properties in terms of wear rate and steady-state coefficient of friction are noticed for the samples that were run-in with the operating conditions which were the same as the working regime operating conditions. In the defined test conditions, it is shown that the intensity of normal load applied during the running-in process has a dominant influence on the amount of wear and coefficient of friction value. It was also shown that the running-in process can significantly improve the roughness of the initially rough contact surfaces. The results of experimental testing indicate that the variation of the operating parameters during the running-in process can be used to improve the working ability of the sliding contact surfaces under the mixed lubrication regime.