DIRECT OBSERVATION OF SURFACE TRANSITION DURING SCUFFING IN DRY CONDITION

摘要

This study investigates surface changes during scuffing in a dry condition. In the test a ball-on-disc apparatus was used, in which a rotating sapphire disc was loaded to a stationary steel ball. The contact area was directly observed and recorded by a digital camera attached to a microscope during the test. The variations in fhctional force were synchronously measured with the capturing of images of the camera. After the test, the hardness of the scuffed steel ball were measured at different points in the contact area. The direct observation of the contact area shows that areas of macro plastic flow appeared from the trailing side of the contact area with a dramatic increase in frictional force. The macro plastic flow areas were changed, resulting in a dramatic expansion of the contact area. During the dramatic expansion, the friction coefficient kept a high constant value of about 0.4. The hardness distributions of the scuffed steel ball showed that the hardness was smaller at the tailing side of the contact area, in which macro plastic flows started, than that at the leading side. On the other hand the temperature rise calculated by a simple temperature estimation model was insufficient to cause the hardness reduction.