Friction and Wear Characteristics for Automotive Leaf Spring Materials due to the Influence of the Residual Stress

Abstract

In this paper, the effects of the residual stresses on the life of structural engineering components were investigated to predict the wear-life. Residual stresses are usually created by the surface treatment, such as shot peening or deep rolling. The objective of the experimental investigation was focused on the influence of friction and wear characteristics due to the residual stress under dry sliding condition and the measurement of the interleaf friction. Test specimens were made of SUP9, the leaf spring material. The residual stresses were created on their surface by shot peening treatment. Residual stress profiles were measured on the surface and subsurface by means of X-ray diffraction method. Also, the sliding tests were carried out under the different contact pressure and the same sliding velocity of 0.035m/s in order to investigate the friction and wear characteristics of leaf surfaces. Leaf spring assembly tests were performed by the ultimate tensile machine with sticking strain gauges on the leaf surfaces in order to evaluate interleaf friction characteristics. We compared friction coefficients, wear volumes and wear rates of the shot-peened specimens with those of the unpeened specimens, and evaluated the effects of residual stress on the tribological characteristics. We obtained the load-displacement curves, and measured interleaf friction force and interleaf friction coefficient of leaf spring assembly from these curves.