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Development of a mini-tribometer for in-situ observation of subsurface and the corresponding experiments

Chen Li (Institute of Tribology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China)
Heng Wen (Institute of Tribology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China)
Kun Chen (Institute of Tribology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China)
Longxiao Zhang (Institute of Tribology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China)
Ting Xie (Institute of Tribology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China; School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China and Engineering Research Center of High Performance Copper Alloy Materials and Processing, Ministry of Education, Hefei, China)
Yaru Shi (Institute of Tribology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China)
Junlong Zhang (Institute of Tribology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China)

Industrial Lubrication and Tribology

ISSN: 0036-8792

Article publication date: 13 July 2021

Issue publication date: 3 August 2021

128

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a Mini-Tribometer for in-situ observation of subsurface.

Design/methodology/approach

To observe the change of the microstructure during wear in real time, an in-situ observation mini-tribometer was developed according to the requirements of the basic frictional experiments and carried out the verification experiments.

Findings

The subsurface images and the tribological data obtained from the mini-tribometer clearly show that the graphite in the matrix moves to the surface and takes part in lubrication mainly in the form of extrusion and peeling off, and the migration of graphite in the copper-based composite to the frictional interface to act as lubricant and to result in the decrease of the friction coefficient. The experimental results of the developed tribometer are accurate, which can provide important references for further research on the wear mechanism of materials.

Originality/value

The developed in-situ observation mini-tribometer can be used to observe the dynamic wear mechanism of the frictional pairs, which is very important for optimization of material design and tribological performances.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51275144).

Citation

Li, C., Wen, H., Chen, K., Zhang, L., Xie, T., Shi, Y. and Zhang, J. (2021), "Development of a mini-tribometer for in-situ observation of subsurface and the corresponding experiments", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 73 No. 5, pp. 822-829. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-04-2021-0130

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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