Friction on ice is important for many different fields such as winter sports and vehicle traction. In vehicle handling, maximising the friction coefficient between tyres and the ice surface is key to safety. The friction coefficient between tyre rubber and ice has been observed to be as high as unity at low temperatures and as little as 0.05 close to the ice melting temperature. The observed low friction is due to thin water films generated through frictional heating. Little is known about the formation and behaviour of this fluid film and its thickness has been difficult to measure. Previous attempts included techniques such as capacitance, conductivity and fluorescence spectroscopy, however results have been inconsistent. The primary aim of this study was to develop a measurement technique for this lubricating layer, establishing its thickness and the conditions under which its presence results in low friction. This was done by designing a micro-scale linear tribometer (microtribometer) to measure the friction coefficient (μ) on ice under a microscope. Clear ice, and ice with fluorescent particles of various sizes were created. The two ice types were then joined and tested on. During a friction test on the microtribometer, the particles displaced in the direction of sliding due to melt water presence. Images of the ice surface were taken before and after a friction measurement was made, and the amount of particle movement was assessed. The size and displacement of particles were correlated to the range of melt water thickness for a given sliding condition. This study is the first direct measurement method for the melt water layer on ice. Frictional heating is generated through the physical contact of rubber and ice asperities. By conducting friction measurements with rubbers of varying shear modulus (G*) and surface roughness (Ra) on both the microtribometer and on our large–scale tribometer, FRIMA, analysis of the contact can be made over a range of length scales. Further insight into the interfacial effects was provided by surface roughness measurements of both ice and rubber before and ice after microtribometer tests and in FRIMA. Finally, the use of differential interference contrast in reflected light microscopy with ice friction measurements provided visual evidence of the melt water presence. It was found that the melt water thickness based on particle displacement was between 0.1 to 2μm, for a velocity of 4.3 ⇥ 10−4 ms−1 and 0.5MPa nominal load, between –6°C to 0°C. A decreasing film thickness was found with decreasing temperature and the friction coefficient increased with decreasing temperature. At higher temperatures, the differences between the rubbers on both FRIMA and the microtribometer were found to be negligible because of the lubricating layer. Increasing the rubber surface roughness was found to increase at high and decrease friction significantly at low temperatures. These phenomena can be explained by the decreasing amount of solid-solid contact. A simple analytical approach to interpret the results suggests that the rubber compresses significantly and the surface roughness is smoothened upon contact with ice. Furthermore, simple hydrodynamic shear calculations show that pure liquid shear is insufficient to account for the measured low μ values close to melting temperatures. The combined effect of the increasing melt water presence reducing the real contact area and the significant deformation of the rubber asperities failing to compensate for this reduced contact area can account for the results. It is anticipated that these results provide direction for finding ways to improve solid-solid contact between rubber and ice, as there is some viscoelastic dissipation even at conditions close to the melting temperature. Some topics for example are: improving the thermal conductivity of tyre compounds or further investigating the surface roughness of rubber and ice separately and with the thin liquid film in between.

The friction of rubber on ice and snow surfaces is complex. Deeper scientific understanding is important for optimising performance of tyres in winter. Rubber, ice and snow systems exhibit frictional behaviour which depends on their material properties. The viscoelastic nature of rubber results in a higher real contact area compared to most other solids. At temperatures close or below the glass transition temperature, the frictional behaviour of rubber changes and its hardness increases. Thus, the real area of contact decreases, while the dissipation in the bulk of the rubber increases. Sliding of rubber on ice or snow leads to a temperature increase at the interface because of frictional heating, this can cause the surface to melt which decreases friction significantly. In this study we measured the friction of rubber on ice and snow and related the behaviour to mechanisms that occur. Key parameters affecting friction were examined and quantified. For this work a cold room and a new linear tribometer were specially designed and constructed. The rubber samples were made from various compounds and had different geometries. Typically they were the size of a “tread block element”. The geometries were chosen systematically to investigate the effects of surface area, sharp/rounded edges and sipes (small slits in the tread block that are used on snow tyres). A significant part of the work was developing consistent and reproducible ice and snow surfaces. New protocols were devised for these. The ice surfaces were made of de-ionised water, tap water and de-ionised water with salt. For the snow surface production: artificial snow was made and then compacted in a specially manufactured press, resulting in hard packed snow tracks for testing. Static and dynamic friction were investigated. Both were affected by speed, load, temperature and ice composition. The dynamic friction behaviour on ice was explained in terms of melt-water formation and the real area of contact of the rubber. The static friction was significantly affected by the losses inside the rubber bulk, the adhesive forces at the interface, and the time of stationary contact before the test. The investigation of rubber sliding on snow showed some similarities with sliding on ice; the surface of the rubber block slides over snow particles resulting in similar mechanisms as are seen on ice. However with snow there can also be a “ploughing” effect, where snow is cut by the leading edge of a sharp tread block. This effect contributes to friction. Experiments were made with simple rounded edged samples to avoid ploughing; the results showed the same trends as seen on ice, i.e. lower friction with increased speed, load and temperature. Investigations of siped tread blocks showed the same friction at low speeds as tread blocks without sipes. At higher speeds siped blocks exhibited less, or no, decrease in friction; more sipes gave less friction decrease. Our industrial collaborator, Michelin, made vehicle tests on snow using whole tyres with similar tread blocks. The trends they found were identical to our tests despite the dynamics of the system being more complex. This indicates how powerful the approach of using simple systematic experiments is for generating deeper understanding of the processes involved in sliding on ice and snow.

<div>Polymer bonded explosives (PBXs) consist of energetic material (EM) crystals embedded inside a polymeric binder. These are highly heterogeneous structures designed to explode under controlled conditions. However, accidental ignition of PBXs leading to deflagration, or even detonation, may take place due to non-shock stimulus such as low velocity impacts and vibration. Thus, assessing the safety of PBXs under non-shock stimulus is very important.</div><div><br></div><div>The ignition in PBXs depends on several microstructural features which include mechanical properties of EM particles and polymeric binder, as well as the adhesive properties of interface between EM particles and binder. It is also sensitive to initial defects in EM particles including cracks or voids. EM particle size distribution, distance between particles and their relative location are also shown to be affecting the ignition behavior of PBXs. This study focuses on PBX composition consisting of HMX as EM and Sylgard or HTPB as polymeric binder. Among several mechanisms of hot-spot formation, this study focuses on frictional heating at cracks or debonded surfaces.</div><div><br></div><div>Finite element simulations are performed on a domain containing a single EM particle embedded inside polymer binder under compressive and tensile loading at 10 m/s. The effect of the binder properties and the particle surface properties, on damage evolution and corresponding temperature rise due to frictional heat generation, is investigated. Two binders, Sylgard and HTPB, while two surface qualities for HMX particle, low and high, are compared. The adhesion strength of the particle-polymer interface is varied and damage evolution is qualitatively compared with experimental results to estimate interfacial energy release rate for HMX-Sylgard and HMX-HTPB interfaces. Simulations of two HMX particles inside Sylgard binder, subjected to vibration loading, are performed to analyze the effect of particle-particle distance and relative location of particles on the damage evolution and frictional heating in the particles.</div><div><br></div><div>The results of impact simulations show that the low surface quality HMX particle inside HTPB is likely to propagate cracks as compared to high surface quality particle. The HMX particle inside Sylgard shows crack propagation irrespective of particle surface quality. The impact simulations with the lower stiffness binder do not show a significant increase in temperature after impact. A polymer with higher stiffness induces more particle damage under impact contributing to a larger temperature rise. Furthermore, high quality surface and higher adhesion strength induces larger stresses and increase the temperature rise. The vibration simulations show that a small particle is less likely to damage when it is shielded by a large particle irrespective of its distance, within 40-200$\mu$m, from the large particle. However, the small particle is likely to damage when it is in parallel to the large particle with respect to loading. The temperature rise in the small particle is higher than the larger particle only in case of parallel configuration. The adhesion between the particles and the polymer has a direct effect on the formation of hot-spots due to friction and through local increase of compressive stresses that may cause a surge in heat generation.</div><div><br></div><div>The energetic materials often show anisotropy in elastic and crystalline properties. Fracture in HMX along the preferred cleavage plane is considered. Anisotropy in the elastic constants is also incorporated in the fracture model. The dependence of pressure on temperature is considered using Mie-Gruneisen equation of state which is shown to be important for damage evolution in HMX at impact velocity of 100 m/s.</div>

This thesis seeks two objectives. One objective is to develop a means to estimate time invariant real contact areas and surface temperatures through thermal measurements in 1D/2D systems. This allows computationally easier models, resulting in faster simulations within acceptable convergence. The second objective is to provide experimental design guidance. The methods used are a modified cellular automata technique for the direct model and a Levenberg-Marquardt parameter estimation technique to stabilize inverse solutions. The modified cellular automata technique enables each piece of physics to be solved independently over a short time step, thus frequently allowing analytical solutions to those pieces. Overall, the method was successful. The major results indicate that appropriately selected measurement locations can determine the contact distribution accurately, and that the preferred measurement location of the sensor is not very sensitive to the contact distribution specifics. This is useful because it allows selection of measurement locations regardless of the specifics of the generally unknown contact distribution. Further results show the combined effects of the normalized length and the Stanton number have a significant impact on the estimation quality, and can change the acceptable sensor domain, if the loss is high. The effect of placing the sensor in the static body can, for low loss, provide a coarse image of the contact distribution. This is useful because the static body is easier to instrument than a moving body. Finally, the estimation method worked well for the most complex model utilized, even in a sub-optimal measurement location. / Master of Science

In this study, dynamic crack propagation in brittle materials has been studied using a regularized phase field approach.The phase field model used has been validated using specific experimental results of a dynamic in-plane fracture. The crack branching phenomena and existence of a limiting crack tip velocity has been validated using a mode I simulation set-up. A parametric study has also been performed so as to normalize the various numerical parameters that affect the velocity at the crack tip. Following the validation of the phase field model a stochastic analysis of a PBX microstructure has been performed. The microstructure has a high HMX volume fraction of 79\%. The energetic material is HMX and the binder used is Sylgard. Artificial defects are introduced in the system using phase field cracks. The analysis uses a finite element framework that accounts for various thermal-mechanical processes like deformation, heat generation, conduction, fracture and frictional heating at the crack surfaces. The effect on the temperature and damage field due to varying parameters like loading velocities and critical energy release rates is studied. Critical hotspot formation due to localized frictional heating is also studied. A concept of dirty binder is introduced to increase the grain volume fraction of the energetic in the composite. This amounts to a homogenized binder that accounts for the influence of the subsume particles that do not contribute to fracture but affect material properties of the binder.

By examining continuous data from the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) in Poker Flat, Alaska, short-lived enhancements in the F-region ion temperature, or "Tᵢ spikes", were discovered in the evening while the radar was on the equatorward edge of the high latitude convection region. These enhancements were several hundred Kelvin above the background temperature, would last less than 15 minutes and were preceded by sharp depletions in plasma density (of roughly one half). Though they were mostly detected in the summer, 25 events throughout a whole year of data were identi ed in which the spike occurred within 1.5 hours of the density drop. By examining the location of PFISR at the time of the enhancements, as well as the conditions under which these spikes occurred, it was concluded that these enhancements were the result of electric elds increasing the frictional heating between ions and neutrals. By then examining geophysical data, it was found that these events were temporal and related to changes in magnetic indices. One possible explanation for the observations is that the electric eld is at its strongest near the plasmapause during substorms. Another more likely possibility is that during substorms the region of sunward ion convection expands into a region in the evening side where the neutral gas moves in a direction opposite to the ions, thereby enhancing the frictional heating rate.

Advanced rotating shaft seals have the potential to significantly increase the efficiency and performance of steam and gas turbines. Two such seals, brush and leaf seals, rely on the use of thousands of flexible filaments to close clearances between rotating components and their static casings. The current life of the components is poor compared to the rest of the gas turbine, limiting the seals' deployment, particularly in the jet engine at high temperature and pressure. Poor understanding of the seal installation response to frictional heat generated at the point of filament-rotor contact during operation has limited the ability to predict engine closures and hence seal behaviour and life. The resulting temperature rises may compromise the mechanical integrity of the engine rotor in extremis leading to a shaft failure. This thesis considers the heat transfer mechanisms that govern frictional heating, of both the fluid and solid components in the vicinity of such seals, characterising the process both experimentally and using numerical models. Through the identification of key features of the heat transfer a simple numerical methodology is shown to predict the thermal behaviour of the seal installation sufficiently accurately for engine design purposes. A low order heat transfer model, using a simple electrical analogy for heat transfer is used to investigate frictional heat generation. When contact occurs between the rotor surface and the seal filaments, mechanical energy is dissipated as heat at the interface. This is conducted into the rotor and the seal filaments in proportions that depend on the heat transfer characteristics of both contacting bodies (thermal resistances). To calculate the heat partition ratio and the resulting contact temperature, the thermal resistances of both rotor and seal need to be known. To that end, a new test facility, the Seal Static Thermal Test Facility (SSTTF), is developed. This is first used to study the convective heat transfer occurring in the vicinity of the seal; heat transfer coefficients based on appropriate, scalable, gas reference temperatures are reported. Importantly the results show a larger area on the rotor surface affected by the presence of the seal than was assumed by previous workers. The test rig is further modified to generate heating in a static test rig equivalent to the frictional heating at the filament tips. The test rig allows the contact temperature between rotor and seal, a critical previously unknown parameter to be measured in a well-conditioned environment. The presence of many thousands of vanishingly small flow passages in filament seals makes their explicit modelling unfeasible for engine design purposes. Thus the results from the experimental campaign are used to develop a simple computational fluid dynamic model of the seal, including empirically derived frictional heating, and seal porosity models, to achieve similar leakage and surface heat transfer to the rotor as was seen in the static experiments. The low order CFD methodology presented in the thesis is finally employed to model the transient operation of a brush seal under engine representative rotor surface speeds and differential pressures. Experimental data were generated in the Oxford Engine Seal Test Facility for a typical brush seal rubbing against a high growth rotor. These experiments were modelled using CFD and finite element analysis using parameters derived from static tests for the porous modelling of the seal leakage. Comparison of results shows that, without further tuning, the thermal behaviour is captured well with a moderate conservative overestimation of rotor heating with increased differential pressure across the seal allowing the strategy to be used as an engine design tool.

The main purpose of this project is to investigate different tool steels in terms of their ability to withstand material transfer buildup, so-called galling, occurring in SMF (sheet metal forming) operations. The ability to withstand galling is vital to optimize cost-effectiveness and increase the work tool’s effective operational time. This investigation studies four different tool steels, including a TiN-coating, with the intention of evaluating the microstructures, chemical composition and hardness effect on galling resistance in dry conditions using a slider-on-flatsurface (SOFS) tribo-tester which measures the coefficient of friction during sliding. An OP (optical profilometer) was used to measure the size and geometry of lump growth on the tool and damage on the work sheet. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to identify the interacting tribological mechanisms exhibited at different stages during the slide. The SEM figures confirmed three different types of characteristic patterns exhibited in the tracks after tribo- testing which were categorized as mild adhesive, abrasive and severe adhesive damage. A SEM figure that illustrates a ragged contact surface and an obvious change in the sheet materials plastic behavior is in this report regarded as a sign of severe adhesive contact, the characteristics could possibly be explained by local high temperature and high pressure followed by a sudden pressure drop and creation of hardened welds or solders between the two surfaces which increase the frictional input needed for further advancement. Friction coefficients observed in the initial 100% mild adhesive stage were, μ=0,22-0,26 succeeded by abrasive SEM characteristics often in association with mild adhesive contact and friction values between μ=0,25-0,4 which where sometimes followed by severe adhesive SEM characteristics in 100% of the contact zone with friction values between μ=0,34- 0,9 respectively. The tool material that performed best according to the friction detection criteria was Sv21 closely followed by Sleipner (TiN coated) and Va40 (HRC 63.3). Unfortunately was the friction criteria, a significant raise in friction for defining a sliding length to galling, not adequate for dry conditions due to immediate material transfer succeeded by cyclic changes between partial or 100% abrasive+mild adhesive and severe adhesive contact. The mechanism that change abrasive wear in association with mild adhesive contact, (moderate friction input), to sever adhesive wear, (higher friction input), is dependent on lump shape (lump geometry) and can appear at comparably low speeds 0,04-0,08 [m/s] and low friction energy input (μ=0,34), the magnitude of the change in friction is therefore not always significant and hardly detectable on the friction graph. This was quite unexpected but could be explained by concentration of friction energy rater than the absolute amount. The problem with using friction graphs for galling evaluation was increased even further when a very small lump size and low corresponding rate of material transfer to the tool surface caused a sustainable high raise in friction (μ≈0,3→0,6) on a TiN-coated tool steel called Sleipner. A hardly detectable or similar friction raise for Sv21 and Va40 showed much larger corresponding lump size and rate of material transfer. This means that friction graphs demonstrate a clear problem with quantifying lump size [m3] and rate of  material transfer [m3/s]. Another phenomenon called stick slip behavior, material transfer and lump growth followed by a sudden decrease in lump size and transfer of material back to the work sheet, is also not possible to detect on a friction graph. Because a drop in friction can easily be a change in contact temperature and lump attack angle due to a growing lump and not a decreasing lump.   The conclusion, a friction graph is not suited for galling evaluation and ranking in dry SOFS conditions. A ranking should primarily be based on dimensional OP measurements of the cross section of formed tracks and scratches or preferably by repeated OP measurements of the tool surface during a single test, the last revel the exact lump growth history and true lump growth even in the sliding direction. / civilingenjörsexamen

<p>The main purpose of this project is to investigate different tool steels in terms of their ability to withstand material transfer buildup, so-called galling, occurring in SMF (sheet metal forming) operations. The ability to withstand galling is vital to optimize cost-effectiveness and increase the work tool’s effective operational time. This investigation studies four different tool steels, including a TiN-coating, with the intention of evaluating the microstructures, chemical composition and hardness effect on galling resistance in dry conditions using a slider-on-flatsurface (SOFS) tribo-tester which measures the coefficient of friction during sliding.</p><p>An OP (optical profilometer) was used to measure the size and geometry of lump growth on the tool and damage on the work sheet. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to identify the interacting tribological mechanisms exhibited at different stages during the slide. The SEM figures confirmed three different types of characteristic patterns exhibited in the tracks after tribo- testing which were categorized as mild adhesive, abrasive and severe adhesive damage.</p><p>A SEM figure that illustrates a ragged contact surface and an obvious change in the sheet materials plastic behavior is in this report regarded as a sign of severe adhesive contact, the characteristics could possibly be explained by local high temperature and high pressure followed by a sudden pressure drop and creation of hardened welds or solders between the two surfaces which increase the frictional input needed for further advancement. Friction coefficients observed in the initial 100% mild adhesive stage were, μ=0,22-0,26 succeeded by abrasive SEM characteristics often in association with mild adhesive contact and friction values between μ=0,25-0,4 which where sometimes followed by severe adhesive SEM characteristics in 100% of the contact zone with friction values between μ=0,34- 0,9 respectively. The tool material that performed best according to the friction detection criteria was Sv21 closely followed by Sleipner (TiN coated) and Va40 (HRC 63.3). Unfortunately was the friction criteria, a significant raise in friction for defining a sliding length to galling, not adequate for dry conditions due to immediate material transfer succeeded by cyclic changes between partial or 100% abrasive+mild adhesive and severe adhesive contact. The mechanism that change abrasive wear in association with mild adhesive contact, (moderate friction input), to sever adhesive wear, (higher friction input), is dependent on lump shape (lump geometry) and can appear at comparably low speeds 0,04-0,08 [m/s] and low friction energy input (μ=0,34), the magnitude of the change in friction is therefore not always significant and hardly detectable on the friction graph. This was quite unexpected but could be explained by concentration of friction energy rater than the absolute amount. The problem with using friction graphs for galling evaluation was increased even further when a very small lump size and low corresponding rate of material transfer to the tool surface caused a sustainable high raise in friction (μ≈0,3→0,6) on a TiN-coated tool steel called Sleipner.</p><p>A hardly detectable or similar friction raise for Sv21 and Va40 showed much larger corresponding lump size and rate of material transfer. This means that friction graphs demonstrate a clear problem with quantifying lump size [m3] and rate of  material transfer [m3/s]. Another phenomenon called stick slip behavior, material transfer and lump growth followed by a sudden decrease in lump size and transfer of material back to the work sheet, is also not possible to detect on a friction graph. Because a drop in friction can easily be a change in contact temperature and lump attack angle due to a growing lump and not a decreasing lump.</p><p> </p><p>The conclusion, a friction graph is not suited for galling evaluation and ranking in dry SOFS conditions. A ranking should primarily be based on dimensional OP measurements of the cross section of formed tracks and scratches or preferably by repeated OP measurements of the tool surface during a single test, the last revel the exact lump growth history and true lump growth even in the sliding direction.</p><p> </p> / civilingenjörsexamen