<p><a href="">This work investigates the effect of surface features such as roughness, pits, and cracks on the tribological and fatigue behavior of machine components. It comprises of three main investigations: (i) effect of roughness on non-contacting fatigue, (ii) lubricated contact fluid structure interaction (FSI) behavior in presence of surface cracks, and (iii) the equivalence between non-contacting and contacting fatigue and the effect of roughness.</a></p><p>For the first investigation, a novel microstructure-based approach was developed to model surface roughness. It used a finite element fatigue damage model to predict the effects of roughness on tensile fatigue. AISI 4130 steel specimens with different surface finishes were fabricated and tested in axial fatigue using an MTS machine. The experimental results demonstrated the detrimental effect of roughness on fatigue lives, which was predicted by the model accurately.</p><p>In the second investigation, a partitioned CFD-FEM based FSI solver was developed using Ansys Multiphysics software to model and investigate elastohydrodynamically lubricated contacts typical in gears and cylindrical roller bearings. The FSI model relaxes Reynolds assumptions, and uses Navier-Stokes equations to determine the lubricant flow and utilizes finite element method to model the structural response. The FSI model was evaluated for robustness under various operating conditions. The effect of material plasticity, subsurface features, etc. were also investigated. The model was then extended to investigate the effects of surface cracks in rolling/sliding EHL line contacts. Using CFD based approach enabled the investigation of surface cracks with inclined geometries, overcoming the limitations of standard Reynolds-based solvers. The effects of crack geometry parameters such as crack location, crack length, crack width, crack tip radius and crack orientation on fluid pressure distribution were studied. This investigation identified the crack geometries that affect the contact fatigue behavior by predicting the location and severity of stress concentrations in the material.</p><p>Finally, the relationship between contacting fatigue and non-contacting fatigue was investigated. A test rig was designed and developed to simulate rolling contact fatigue (RCF) surface damage. Experimental investigation revealed that the RCF surface damage stress-life (SN) results can be predicted using torsional fatigue results 10 times faster. A computational contact mechanics model was developed to incorporate the effect of roughness in this prediction, and corroborated against experimental RCF results at different roughness levels.</p>

Gears are machine elements essential for mechanical transmission. Wear of gear teeth can causechanges in their profile geometry, causing vibration, noise, and subsequent gear failure. In this thesisproject, a twin disc tribometer has been used to mimic the actual Alfa Laval separator screw gearsystems. An investigation of the wear of different material pairs has been done using a twin disctribometer machine. In the twin disc tribometer, the material surface for one disc was bronze and thematerial for the counter disc surface was varied with steel of different types. Each bronze-steel pair wastested against different loading, lubricating and surface roughness conditions. For the wear tests, twodifferent loads, 75 N and 150 N and two different types of lubricants, Polyalphaolefin (PAO) andPolyalkylene Glycol (PAG) were taken. Wear tests were also done with the Applied Nano Surfaces(ANS) triboconditioning (TCG) steel disc samples which are surface treated to obtain a lower surfaceroughness. To obtain the wear volume and wear rate values the disc pairs were further analysed usinglaboratory equipment and computer software such as the digital microscope, optical interferometer andMountainsLab premium 9. Analytical calculations for minimum film thickness and thermally correctedminimum film thickness between the disc surfaces were obtained using the Dowson-Hamrock equationand Gupta formula, respectively. It has been found that the wear on the bronze disc is minimum if thecounter steel discs are Applied Nano Surfaces (ANS) of TCG 1 type followed by counter disc as casehardened steel, all of it at 75 N and with Polyalphaolefin (PAO) lubricant oil.

Electric machines are widely used in for instance the automotive industry in electric vehicles and in wind turbines. The electrical machines have mechanical bearings as an integral part used to transmit power and load. In addition, the main function includes reducing friction between interacting surfaces. However, it is one of the most failing machine elements in these machines. To improve operational sustainability and reduce maintenance costs, understanding bearing failure mechanisms under electrical influence is important. One of the main reasons of bearing failure is linked to high frequency power switches typically used to enhance electric machines’ efficiency. The increase in switching rate induces more frequent common mode voltage fluctuations making the system vulnerable to bearing currents. A small voltage difference of a few ten volts can induce significant electric stress on the bearing depending on the lubricant film thickness and related tribological parameters. The electric charge build-up leads to electric current conduction (arc discharge which happens when the voltage exceeds the breakdown voltage) ultimately damaging the bearing. There are different mitigation strategies which are used to restrict bearing currents through grounding or using completely insulative bearings such as ceramic ones. However, at the moment, there are no satisfactory solutions and there is a need for efficient and economical solutions to the problem. On the other hand, various filters are used to reduce the amplitude and its frequency of bearing currents, but they only partly solve the problem. Similarly, the insulative surface coatings provides high electrical resistance but start acting as capacitors. At a sufficiently high voltage difference, the current passes through the system. Therefore, mitigation strategies are still being explored to improve system performance and service-life. To understand the bearing discharge activity and electrical breakdowns, an electrified ball bearing rig is developed with the ability of testing different electrical properties of lubricants and running conditions. To be able to characterize the electrical properties of a bearing, two electrical circuits are designed. Experimental tests are carried out with PAO-15 and an electrical conductivity-enhanced PAO-15/P-SiSO lubricant with addition of ionic liquids. The influence of different tribological parameters such as rotational speed and viscosity are compared with respect to discharge activity. In addition, two fully formulated experimental oils are compared and evaluated in terms of their electrical performance. The bearing is found to be in different states showing electric-field dependent insulation breakdown ranging from resistive to resistive-capacitive to capacitive states. The electric characterization shows a difference between the boundary, mixed and full film lubrication regimes. Conclusively, the electrical behavior of a mechanical bearing is characterized experimentally to understand discharge problem and roadmap solution opportunities.

Obtaining an enhanced lifespan for mechanical transmissions has become a challenge in diverse application sectors. Micropitting as a contact fatigue mechanism has seriously jeopardized the well-being of rolling-sliding elements present for instance in gearboxes. Additivation through copper nanoadditives has demonstrated promising results in preventing contact fatigue. There is a need to assess the influence of copper nanoadditives on micropitting and mild wear before contemplating employing them in real transmission gearboxes. Consequently, this research work aims to acquire knowledge of the tribological behavior of rolling-sliding contacts additivated with a copper nanoadditive, emphasizing the influence of two different copper nanoadditive concentrations (0.3% and 3%) on wear and micropitting as failure mechanisms. Tests were performed using a micropitting test rig. Micropitting and wear were analyzed at different slide-to-roll ratios (1%, 5%, and 30%), different load conditions (1.5 GPa and 2.5 GPa), and different temperatures (60 °C and 100 °C), for all versions of the studied lubricant. There was no change in friction behavior between the versions of the oil additivated with the copper nanoadditive and its original version. Furthermore, it was found a reduction of micropitting for the 3% version of the studied oil in some operating conditions, and a reduction of the average wear volume for this same concentration in all studied operating conditions. On the other hand, it was found that the 0.3% version of the studied oil promoted wear with an increasing slide-to-roll ratio when compared with the original version of the studied oil. A higher reduction in wear was obtained for the 0.3% version of the studied oil with an increasing temperature when compared with the 3% version. These results indicate that copper nanoadditives exhibit the potential to reduce micropitting in non-conformal rolling-sliding contacts typically found in gears and rolling-element bearings.

A thorough investigation on the existing hydrodynamic lubrication theories and the reverse pumping theories for the conventional lip seal is conducted. On that basis, the algorithms and the methods used in the numerical modeling of the conventional lip seal are modified and applied to the study of the lip seal running against surface textured shafts. For each step of the study, the numerical model is benchmarked against the experimental results. Important physical mechanisms which explain the reverse pumping ability of the triangular surface structures are revealed. Meanwhile, the accuracy of the numerical model is tested. In general, the numerical simulation results match the experimental observation well. However, there are several important discrepancies. For each discrepancy the possible causes are discussed, which benefits the further attempts of the modeling work on the lip seal running against surface textured shafts. The conclusions of this study themselves can be used as a guidance to the design of the surface textured shafts for the lip seal applications. Finally the limitation of the current theories and the modeling methods are discussed and reasonable improvements which can be done are proposed for the future work.

No description available.

The present work investigates the tribological properties of solid particles as lubricant additives in lubricants. Two types of solid particles, Ceria nanoparticles (CeO2) and Zinc borate ultrafine powders (ZB UFPs), were used as the lubricant additives in this study. The friction and wear behaviours of these lubricant additives in different base lubricants were identified. With an appropriate application of these solid lubricant additives, the friction reduction and wear resistance properties of the lubricant have been successfully improved. Without assistance of surfactant or surface modification, the two types of solid particles behave very differently. Evident performance was observed that pure ZB UFPs were capable of considerably reducing the friction coefficient of sunflower oil and liquid paraffin when they were used as a lubricant additive without further treatment. On the contrary, CeO2 nanoparticles did not show noticeable contribution to friction reduction when they were used as the only additive in water. Only when surfactant Sorbitan monostearate was employed to enhance the dispersibility of CeO2 nanoparticles in water, the application of this additive was capable of reducing friction coefficient of the water based lubricant effectively. Surface modification of the solid particles was carried out to improve the dispersibility of these particles in base lubricants. Oleic acid (OA) and Hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMOS) were selected as the modification agents. Modified CeO2 nanoparticles and ZB UFPs revealed outstanding wear resistance property. An improvement of up to 15 times was identified although this improvement on wear resistance, in this case, was often companied by a rise in friction coefficient. Tribo-films generated by tribo-chemical reaction were observed on most of the worn surfaces and the formation of this tribo-film appeared to have played an important role in the friction and wear behaviours of a system. A tenacious tribo-film with good surface coverage was only generated on the worn surface when HDTMOS modified solid particles were used as lubricant additives. The mechanical properties and elemental composition of the tribo-film were studied with nano-indentation and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Finally, based on the experimental evidence, different functionalities of CeO2 nanoparticles and ZB UFPs as solid lubricant additives were recognized.

The elastohydrodynamic lubrication regime (EHD) is found in many machine elements, such as rolling element bearings, gears, cam/tappet, where a combination of hydrodynamic effect, elastic deformation of the surfaces and an increase of the lubricant’s viscosity with pressure create a continuous lubricant film which is capable of supporting pressures of the order of tens of thousands of atmospheres. One of the most important features of these films is their thickness, as this determines whether the bounding surfaces are completely separated, thus avoiding premature wear and failure of the contact. Consequently for many years scientists were interested in finding methods for measuring the lubricant film thickness in elastohydrodynamic conditions. One of the most versatile and widely used techniques for measuring lubricant film thickness in EHD contacts is the optical interferometry method. Apart from numerous advantages, this method has the limitation in the fact that one of the contacting surfaces must be transparent, usually glass or sapphire, thus it does not replicate real conditions found in machine elements contacts. On the other hand, the other group of methods used for studying the behaviour of elastohydrodynamic films includes a variety of electrical methods. Historically, these appeared before the optical methods, but gradually lost importance with the success of the later. Most capacitive, resistive, inductance methods developed so far use specially designed sensors for monitoring the lubricant film thickness. In the case of electrical techniques, both elements of the contact are metallic, which means that these can be used for measuring film thickness in real machine elements. One of the main disadvantages of electrical methods though, is the difficulty with which the calibration of various electrical quantities, against lubricant film thickness is obtained. This thesis describes the work carried out by the author on the application of a capacitive method for studying lubrication of elastohydrodynamic contacts. The novelty of the method used consists in the calibration of the capacitance of the contact with optical interferometry. This project started from the premises that a thicker Chromium layer will supply the phase change needed to precisely measure the lubricant film thickness by eliminating the fragile silica layer, and it has been shown that an increase in Cr thickness results in a increase in reflection of the glass–Cr interface making the resulting images hard to process. Modifications to the existing experimental rig were carried out in order to apply/collect an electrical signal from both the disc and the ball. Signal collection from the disc was quite straightforward and a graphite brush paired with a copper nut was used, as this is the oldest method of collecting/applying and electrical signal from a rotating element. Collecting an electrical signal from the ball presented quite a challenge as the ball is submerged in oil. A number of brushes was designed, made and tested and the one that provided the most stable results chosen. For calibration purposes a base oil and two additives were chosen, the additives were chosen in such a way that the improvement made to the lubrication process to be very different from one additive to the other. The chosen additives were a Viscosity Index Improver [VII] and an Organic Friction Modifier [OFM]. The VII is used by many researchers in order to obtain multigrade lubricants using the same base oil by varying its percentage in the mix. The OFM is used to provide protection between the two contacting bodies when EHD film fails and EHD lubrication is replaced by mixed lubrication by forming a boundary layer on the contacting surfaces. Optical measurements were carried out on the base oil and the two resulting lubricants from the additive mixes using the Ultra Thin Film Interferometry [UTFI] method. The measurements were used as a benchmark against which the capacitive measurements were calibrated. Tests were conducted in a number of controlled conditions for speed, temperature, load and sliding conditions. Results showed that the highest influence on the lubrication process was given by the speed, an increase in speed results in an increase in optically measured film thickness and a decrease in electrically measured film thickness. Phenomenon explained by a large amount of lubricant pushed into the contact. Another parameter that influenced the results quite significantly was temperature, a rise in temperature supplies a decrease in optically measured film thickness and an increase in capacitive measured film thickness which was explained by lubricant viscosity dropping with a rise in temperature. Three different sliding conditions were employed and a small drop in optically measured film thickness followed by a small rise in electrically measured film thickness was recorded due to a local increase in contact temperature when sliding was employed. The capacitive method developed in this project is precise enough to accurately measure lubricant film thickness down to 100nm; a model for thicknesses lower that 100nm was proposed Results from the optical and capacitive methods were compared and a good correlation was found, indicating that the developed capacitive method can be used as a tool for measuring metal on metal contacts without further calibration.

Ce travail s’intéresse au renforcement mécanique de films lubrifiants auto-assemblés en milieu aqueux par réticulation. Deux stratégies ont été suivies. La première consiste à réticuler physiquement un film de tensioactifs cationiques par coadsorption d’un copolymère associatif anionique. La deuxième est de réticuler chimiquement un film de copolymères triblocs par la création de liaisons covalentes entre les différentes macromolécules. Nous étudions l’auto-assemblage des films par microbalance à cristal de quartz et microscopie à force atomique (AFM). Nous discutons ensuite les effets de la réticulation sur la morphologie des films (caractérisée par AFM), et sur leurs propriétés mécaniques mesurées avec l’appareil à mesure de force SFA-nanotribomètre. Cette étude a montré que dans les deux cas, la réticulation modifie les propriétés des films lubrifiants et permet une augmentation de la cohésion des films adsorbés. / In this work, we study the effect of cross-linking on boundary lubricant films in aqueous media. Two strategies have been followed. First, we investigate a physical network on a cationic surfactant bilayer by coadsorption of an anionic copolymer. Secondly a tribloc copolymer film was chemically cross-linked by creating some chemical bounds between macromolecules. We study film self-assembling by Quartz Crystal Microbalance and Atomic Force Microscopy. We discuss then on the effect of cross-linking on the morphology of the film and its mechanical properties by combining AFM and Surface Force Apparatus SFA-nanotribometer. We have shown that in both cases, lubricant films properties are modified and the cohesion of the adsorbed films is increased by cross-linking.

Im Beitrag werden bei verschiedenen Lastkollektiven und zwei Reibgeschwindigkeiten die Erodierstrukturen K27, K36, K42 und die Ätzstruktur K36 mit glatten Probekörpern hinsichtlich des Reibwertes und des Verschleißverhaltens untersucht. Als strukturierte Probekörper kommen die Kunststoffe POM und PA und als Gegenkörper zwei verschiedene PE-UHMW´s zum Einsatz. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eine deutliche Abhängigkeit des Reibwertes von der Oberflächenstruktur der Probekörper, jedoch ist die Senkung des Reibwertes stark von den Belastungsparametern Normalkraft und Reibgeschwindigkeit abhängig.