Experimental investigation into the effect of 3D surface roughness parameters on flash temperature

Abstract

Purpose

Although dependence of contact surface temperatures between rough sliding bodies on surface topography is more explicitly described in terms of three‐dimensional (3D) topographic parameters, no work has yet been reported on this aspect. The paper seeks to carry out experiments to systematically correlate the 3D surface parameters to the contact temperature rise.

Design/methodology/approach

The surface temperatures at the contact between a relatively smooth zinc sulphide pin held against a rotating mild steel disc of varying surface topography were measured using an infrared thermal imaging system under different load and sliding velocity conditions. The main objective was to study the effect of 3D surface roughness parameters on the contact temperature rise.

Findings

The results indicate a rise in maximum contact temperature with the increase in a number of 3D parameters, such as, average surface roughness Sa, ten‐point height parameter Sz, skewness of the surface height distribution Ssk, mean summit curvature Ssc, and developed interfacial area ratio parameter Sdr while temperature was found to decrease with increasing values of another set of parameters, such as, kurtosis of the 3D surface texture Sku, summit density of the surface Sds, surface bearing index Sbi, core fluid retention index Sci, valley fluid retention index Svi, and root mean square slope of the surface Sdq.

Practical implications

In any sliding system, with mixed or boundary lubricated conditions, it can be attempted to find the optimum value of the roughness parameters so that on suitable processing of the surfaces a lower contact temperature rise can be achieved.

Originality/value

No work has yet been reported on the effect of 3D roughness parameters on contact temperature.

Citation

Ray, S. and Roy Chowdhury, S.K. (2011), "Experimental investigation into the effect of 3D surface roughness parameters on flash temperature", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 63 No. 2, pp. 90-102. https://doi.org/10.1108/00368791111112216