Friction at high sliding speed of WC-6Co pin versus steel disc AISI 1045: estimation of the contact temperature

Abstract

Cemented carbide based cutting tools remain widely used in machining processes for their wear resistance. Knowledge and modelling of wear processes are of prior importance to get models to predict and increase the cutting tool service life. The present paper deals with some results of a research work that study relationships between wear and temperature in the case of pin-on-disc tribological experiments. Topic of the paper is focussed on the estimation of the pin/disc contact temperature by coupling experimental measurements and computational methods. Friction experiments are conducted with WC-6Co pins against steel discs made of an AISI 1045 grade. Furthermore, WC-6Co pins are instrumented with two type-K thermocouples. A large sliding velocity range is considered in the study: from 100m/min up to 600m/min. The present paper is focussed on the 600m/min velocity. During these tribological tests, tangential forces and thermocouple temperatures are measured and monitored. From these values, the heat flux in the WC-6Co pin is estimated by two different ways. On one hand by considering the unidirectional Fourier law, on the other hand by estimating the heat partition coefficient [1] between the disc and the pin. The heat partition coefficient is determined from a physical approach based on the consideration of the mechanical power dissipated in the contact. In both cases, the heat transfer in the pin is then modelled by finite element methods. It is necessary to perform numerical analysis to estimate the pin/disc interface temperature because of the impossibility to measure it directly during friction tests. Results of experiments and of numerical simulations are compared.