Fretting Wear Experiments Research Articles

The influence of oxygen and water vapour on the friction and wear of an aluminium alloy under fretting conditions

An investigation was conducted to determine the effect of oxygen and water vapour on the friction and wear behaviour of an Al-Zn-Mg alloy under fretting conditions. Fretting wear experiments were carried out in wet air, dry air and in dry argon. In this case the peak-to-peak relative slip amplitude was varied from 20 to 260 μm to determine the critical slip amplitude of fretting wear in these environments. The experimental results indicated that the wear rates in dry air and in dry argon under macroslip conditions were almost the same and quite lower than the wear rate in wet air. This revealed that the effect of oxygen on fretting wear was not large but that water vapour accelerated the fretting wear of the aluminium alloy. The cyclically softened material due to overaging was observed below the contact surface during fretting in wet air. The mechanism involved rapid fretting wear in wet air which caused the removal of a heavily work-hardened layer as it was formed but the softened material below it was not removed.

Fretting of AISI 9310 Steel and Selected Fretting-Resistant Surface Treatments

Fretting wear experiments were conducted with uncoated AISI 9310 mating surfaces and with combinations incorporating a selected coating to one of the mating surfaces. Wear measurements and SEM observations indicated that surface fatigue, as made evident by spallation and surface crack formation, is an important mechanism in promoting fretting wear to uncoated 9310. Increasing humidity resulted in accelerated fretting and a very noticeable difference in nature of the fretting debris. Of the coatings evaluated, aluminum bronze with a polyester additive was most effective at reducing wear and minimizing fretting damage to the mating uncoated surface by means of a self-lubricating film that developed on the fretting surfaces. Chromium plate performed as an effective protective coating, itself resting fretting and not accelerating damage to the uncoated surface. Presented at the 32nd Annual Meeting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, May 9–12, 1977