TO STUDY FRICTION COEFFICIENT AND WEAR RATE TESTING OF ALUMINIUM AND COPPER SLIDING AGAINST STEEL

OF

LAB-I

Under the Guidance of DR. Balwinder Singh ER.SURINDER SINGH KHELA (Lab In charge)

Submitted by Anurag Goyal Regd. No:-1168425 M.Tech Production Engg. 4th Semester

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PTU GIANI ZAIL SINGH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY BATHINDA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all I wish to thank Almighty God for having given me an opportunity to work under my guide who always made work interesting. It is my proud privilege to express regards and sincere thanks to Dr. BALWINDER SINGH SIDHU and Er. SURINDER SINGH KHELA for allowing us to perform the Lab work in my college. I wish to express my sincere thanks to him for his unfailing inspiration, whole-hearted cooperation and painstaking supervision, through discussions, criticism and suggestions given by him during the entire period of this work. Without his timely and untiring help, it would have not been possible to perform this lab work. I also thank to the entire staff for their help, inspiration and moral support throughout which went a long way in bringing out this work from conception to completion.

In the end, I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to my family, for supporting and encouraging me at every step of my work. It is the power of their blessings, which has given me the courage, confidence and zeal for hard work.

ANURAG GOYAL Roll No-1168425

INTRODUCTION TO WEAR AND WEAR TESTING MACHINE

Wear is the damage done to a solid surface, generally involving progressive loss of material. It can occur when two surfaces in contact with each other and usually under load, move relative to each other. In most of the cases, one surface is stationary and the other move relative to the stationary relative to it (stationary one) by the rolling (as wheel runs along a track), sliding (various types of linear and reciprocating motions) and mating (as in the gear drives) action between the parts. Another type of wear is known as "fretting". It results from two surfaces rubbing against each other with a reciprocating or oscillatory motion of very small amplitude and high frequency. If one surface is slid over another then the asperities come into contact and there is a possibility that wear can occur. The breaking of the entire little junction can cause material removal.For example the main reasons for frequent change of car engine oil is that it becomes contaminated with hard debris particles that can wear out the engine components. It is used for a wide variety of materials including metals, polymers, composites, ceramics, lubricants, cutting fluids, abrasive slurries, coatings, and heat-treated samples. For testing the wear properties of different materials wear test for the material test for that material specimen is conducted on the PIN-ON-DISK-TESTER. The Pin-On-Disk Tester is used to test the friction and wear characteristics. The test is

performed by rotating a counter-face test disk against a stationary test specimen pin or ball.The TR 20 Series comes with the WinDucom software for data acquisition and for displaying results such as wear, frictional force, RPM and temperature(optional) for engineering surfaces. Using the WinDucom Data Acquisition System, a PC acquires test data Online and displays it in several ways. Graphs of individual tests can be printed. Results of different tests can be superimposed using the WinDucom Comparative view feature for comparative viewing of results.

Mechanism of wear
When two surfaces slide or roll against each other under load, two forces come into play: 1) The load which acts normal to the surfaces in contact. It exerts a compressive force on the materials (there is a similarity here with cold working) and is usually more concentrated in the case of a rolling contact. 2) A force exerted by the machine in the direction of motion. When these two forces combine this effects to work-harden the softer surface or perhaps both surfaces, to cause plastic deformation of the softer of the two materials or when junctions occur, to dislodge particles from the more wear-vulnerable of the two surfaces and in the of abrasive material, grooves are ploughed into the softer material. There in the contacting surfaces three types of wear took place: a) Adhesive wear. b) Delamination wear. c) Abrasive wear

Adhesive wear
Adhesive wear is caused by the strong adhesive force that develops between mating materials. Prior to the surfaces beginning to move relative to each other, minute areas of contact between the mating surfaces become joined together (these are known as junctions). If, when the machine applies a force to break these junctions, the resulting stresses in the metals are small, only small fragments of the metals become detached.

Delamination wear
Delamination wear is the result of cracks forming below the surface and propagating to link up with other cracks. They are the result of the sub-surface strain gradient caused by the load and the anti-adhesion force and are aggravated by fatigue or defective material. As a result, sub-surface deformation occurs and material becomes detached as wear debris of a platelet or laminated form.

Abrasive wear
Abrasive wear is the result of one very hard material cutting or ploughing grooves into a softer material. The harder material may be one of the rubbing surfaces or hard particles that have found their way between the mating surfaces. These may be foreign particles or particles resulting from adhesive or delamination wear. It may be possible to arrest this effect by removing the debris. Otherwise, they may lead to rapid deterioration and to machine break-down. So to prevent it is advisable to give the harder of the two surfaces a finer finish to eliminate asperities that can plough into the softer material.

Factors affecting wear

The degree of wear that occurs is the result of the inter-play of a number of factors that apply in a given situation. The correlation between these factors has been the subject of much research with results that are not always applicable to all material combinations, particularly the relationship of the wear rate and the load, the speed, the coefficients of friction and of adhesion, hardness and tensile and yield strength. An approximate indication of how load (W) and hardness (H) affect the wear rate (Q) is given by the following formula K is a "wear coefficient" of the system and is dependent on many of the factors described below: Q = KW/H The factors affecting wear have been grouped under:

Loading
Loading may be anything from low to high, depending on the application. It may be Unidirectional or reversing, continuous or intermittent. It governs the friction and adhesion resistance. It therefore has great influence on wear. In a sliding wear situation, wear rate increases with load.

Velocity
Velocity, like loading, can be anything from low to high, unidirectional or reversing, continuous or intermittent. It is one of the factors that affect the erosion of the oxide film although, in some cases, speed has little effect on wear. In other cases it increases the rate of wear and in yet other cases it reduces it. This is because the effect of speed is related to other factors such as lubrication and the temperature it generates by friction.

Fatigue
Reversing or intermittent loading result in repeated stressing and un-stressing which gives rise to fatigue. It is particularly prevalent in rolling contact as in ball bearings and gears and may also be caused by the hammering action of cavitation. Fatigue may in time lead to the formation of cracks at or below the surface and hence ultimately delamination wear. Fatigue is greatly affected by surface conditions such as hardness and finish.

Lubrication
The object of lubrication is to reduce friction and the tendency to adhesion and to mitigate their effects. There are various types of lubrications such as hydrodynamic lubrication (in which the mating surfaces are separated by a fluid film), hydrostatic lubrication (in which the lubricant is supplied under pressure and is able to sustain higher load without contact taking place between the surfaces).

Surface finish
Surface finish affects wear: A well-polished surface finish - say less than about 0.25 m rms provides more intimate contact between the surfaces. This results in more interaction between them and may lead to local weld junctions .Lubricants also tend to be swept away between smooth surfaces If, on the other hand, the surfaces are too rough - say 2m rms - the asperities will tend to interlock resulting in severe tearing. Most machined finishes, however, fall within an intermediate range of surface finish. It is advisable to give the harder of the two surfaces a finer finish to eliminate asperities that can plough into the softer material.

Elastic property
The elastic properties of the softer of two mating materials ensure that deformation can take place under stress without rupture occurring, resulting in delamination.

Hardness
When comparing the wear resistance of different materials, the harder materials are often found to be the most wear resistant. It was thought therefore at one time that wear was inversely proportional to the hardness of the surface being worn away. The relationship between wear and hardness is not so clear cut, however, as more recent researchers have found. Harder materials do not imply lower adhesion and metal transfer. Hardness is an important factor in wear performance, its role is more complex and this is basically related to the structures materials involved. It is evident that the combination of one hard and one less-hard material is an important feature of a successful matching pair. The hard surface controls the interaction and the softer surface conforms. The softer material is able to embed hard abrasive particles thereby minimising damage to the surfaces

WEAR TESTING MACHINE WORKING PROCEDURE

The Wear and Friction Monitor (Pin/Ball on Disc Tester) records wear and friction in sliding contact type materials in dry and lubricated conditions. Tribological instrument is specifically designed for fundamental wear and friction characterization. Experiments are carried out using a pin-on-disc set-up. A cylindrical pin (both ends flat) can slide on a horizontal surface (disc) which rotates using the power from a motor. A circular test disc is fixed on a horizontal plate which can rotate and this rotation (rpm) can be varied by an electronic speed control unit. A vertical shaft connects the horizontal plate with a stainless steel base plate. The alignment of this vertical shaft is maintained properly through two close-fit bush-bearings in such a way that the shaft can move axially. To provide the alignment and rigidity to the main structure of this set-up, four vertical cylindrical bars are rigidly fixed around the periphery to connect horizontal plate with the stainless steel base plate. The whole set-up is placed on a main base plate which is made of mild steel (10 mm thick). The mild steel main base plate is supported by a rubber block (20 mm thick) at the lower side. A rubber sheet (3 mm thick) is also placed at the upper side of the main base plate to absorb any vibration during the friction test. For power transmission from the motor to the stainless steel base plate, a compound V-pulley is fixed with the shaft. A cylindrical pin (4mm-12mm diameter) of material to be tested is fitted in a holder and this holder is subsequently fixed by an arm. The contacting foot of the pin is flat so that it can easily slides on the rotating test disc. The arm is pivoted so that it can rotate horizontally and vertically with negligible friction. The TR 20 Series (Company model name) comes with the WinDucom software for data acquisition and display of results with the help of software created by the company in graphical format. This data acquisition helps the users measurement of: 1. RPM 2. Wear 3. Frictional force 4. Temperature (optional)

S.No Parameters 1. 2. 3. 4. Pin Size (specimen) Disk Size Disk Rotation Normal Load

Unit mm mm RPM N

Min. 03

Max 12 165 x 8

Remarks Diameter Circular dia

200 5

2000 200

Materials Under Wear Test (Al-Cu)

In this experiment the friction and wear of copper and aluminium are investigated experimentally using a pin-on-disc apparatus. In the experiment the copper and aluminium pin slides on mild steel disc at different normal load conditions 20, 25, and 30 N. Experiment is also carried out at disk rotating at the 200 rpm. The effects of duration of rubbing on the friction coefficient of copper and aluminium are investigated. It is found that during friction process, copper or aluminium specimens takes less time to stabilize as the normal load or sliding velocity increases. Within the observed range, friction coefficient decreases when applied load is increased while it increases when sliding velocity is increased for both copper and aluminium. In general, wear rate increases with the increased normal load and sliding velocity. Finally, as a comparison, it is found that friction coefficient and wear rate of copper are much lower than that of aluminium within the observed range of normal load and sliding velocity. Normal load and sliding velocity are the two important parameters that indicate the performance of different metals. Aluminium based alloys can be used in applications where corrosion is a problem. Aluminium alloys are used as bearing materials where low friction is required. Aluminium and their alloys can be used as a coating material to steel bearing due to their superior wear properties. In this experiment the influence of rubbing of aluminium and copper is studied with the mild steel specimen.

Aluminum
Physically, chemically and mechanically aluminum is a metal like steel, brass, copper, zinc, lead or titanium. It can be melted, cast, formed and machined much like these metals and it conducts electric current. In fact often the same equipment and fabrication methods are used as for steel. Hardness of the value between 60-70 (brinell).Aluminum is a very light metal. Aluminum naturally generates a protective oxide coating and is highly corrosion resistant. Aluminum is an excellent heat and electricity conductor and in relation to its weight is almost twice as good a conductor as copper. Aluminum is ductile. Due to low density and high strength used to make automotive parts such as pistons, and is also corrosion resistant used to make cans, good conductor of heat and electricity used in electrical equipments such as cables. Alloy of aluminum is much more preferred over it due to improved properties such as duralumin.

Copper
Copper is an excellent electrical conductor. Most of its uses are based on this property or the fact that it is also a good thermal conductor. It is a ductile metal. Copper is a metal have a hardness of 40-50 (brinell). Copper is less reactive metal that does not means it is non-reactive but as compared to the ferrous metals it is less reactive if compared to aluminum it is more reactive. Copper is a ductile metals and it can be used for pipes and drawn it can be drawn into wires. Copper is a tough metal suited to make things which can resist the load conditions. Copper can be combined with other metals to make alloys. The most well known are brass and bronze. Copper when used with other materials possess harder and strengthened properties. Copper due to its more density that is why the wear rate of the copper is very less. Its use is mainly in the electrical equipments and used in pipes and due to the property malleability and ductility it can be easily bended at the end corners.

Comparison between the properties of the Al-Cu

Copper has higher conductivity than aluminum. Copper has relatively high tensile strength (the greater stress a component can wear without any tearing), and the density of the copper is three times to that of the aluminum and copper can be easily soldered. Copper is much more expensive and heavier than that of the aluminum. AS the conductivity of aluminum is less still its lighter weight makes it use for the long span of time as compares to the copper and the wires of aluminum are much more flexible than that of the copper. Heat transfer coefficient of the copper is very much more than that of the copper and the pipes made from aluminum have to be highly thickened that is strengthened otherwise they burst at high pressures this mainly affects the strength of aluminum. Copper effects on the oxide formation more as compared to that of the aluminum as the aluminum material does not effect much as the formation of the oxide layer on the aluminum surface is non corrosive or we can say as less reactive as compared to that of the copper.

Wear test of Aluminum and copper

The standard samples (pins cylindrical shape) have been prepared (8mm X 25 mm) from the machining having different wt. of the materials. Pictorial view of the sample is in the figure below:

Pictorial view casting samples used for wear test

Dry sliding wear tests for the aluminium & copper have been conducted using pin-ondisc machine model TR 20 supplied by M/S Ducom , Bangalore (India). The tests have been conducted in normal atmosphere. Wear tests have been conducted using cylindrical samples (8mm X 25 mm) that had flat surfaces in contact region and the rounded corner. The pin is held stationary against the counter face of a 100mm diameter rotating disc made of steel having a hardness of 65 as provided on pin-on-disc machine. The wear tests have been conducted under the three normal loads 20, 25, 30N and at fixed sliding speed of 1.5m/s. Pin weight loss has been measured at intervals of 15 minutes to determine wear loss. Weight loss data has been noted and been compared with the initial weigh of the sample and respectively the weight loss can be noted down depending upon the difference this helps us to find the wear or erosion that is the wear loss occurred. The pin is removed from the holder after each run and properly cleaned before again use. The weight loss has been taken in a digital balance having least count of 1mg. The pin weight is measured after every 15 min of sliding and three data points have been taken in a total duration of 45 min for a particular sample Disk has also cleaned after each run to remove debris. The friction coefficients have been determined from the friction force and normal loads.

Graphical samples.

Repersentation

of

copper

and

aluminum

Below graph shows the variation of cumulative wear volume with sliding distance under different loads and at fixed sliding velocity of 1.5m/s aluminium and copper. It is observed that the volume loss increases linearly with increasing sliding distance. However the cumulative volume loss of copper is lower than that observed in Al. Below graph shows the variation of cumulative wear volume with normal applied loads & volume loss is increasing with increasing normal loads:

sample of aluminum

sample of copper

Comparison of wear rate as a function of normal load of 20N (Sliding velocity- 1.5 m/s)

sample of aluminum

sample of copper

Comparison of wear rate as a function of normal load of 25N (Sliding velocity- 1.5 m/s)

sample of aluminum

sample of copper

Comparison of wear rate as a function of normal load of 30N (Sliding velocity- 1.5 m/s)

Results obtained from graphs:

In the experiment the readings are taken from the graphs and the weight is reduced or we can say the reduced volume of the samples after sliding in dry condition with the steel disc. In this the parameters used are: Velocity (v) V = DN (Where N=200(approax), dia of the disc =165 X 8mm) 60 From this the value of V=1.32 or 1.5m/s Weight in kg and the weights are 2kg,2.5kg,3kg (these are used in Newtons, Where 1kg=9.81)

S.NO Velocity (m/s)

Aluminium sample Time Weight Initial Final Diff. (N) weight weight (wt. loss) 20

Copper sample Initial Final weight weight

Diff. (wt. loss)

6.8599 6.8490 0.0109 22.6385 22.6297 .0088

1.

2.

15 1.5 m/s min At (constant) one 25 i.e. no load change in cond. velocity 30

22.6297 22.6166 .0131 6.8490 6.8335 0.0155

6.8335 6.8217 0.0118 22.6166 22.6006 0.416 3.

Study Effect of Friction coefficient of the Aluminum and Copper

Friction coefficient of copper varies with duration of rubbing and these variations at different normal loads and reference study *Corresponding author (Dewan Muhammad Nuruzzaman)
Experiments were carried out at sliding velocity 1 m/s, 1.5m/s and 2m/s. In the experiments, copper pin was sliding against steel disk. There are various curves shown for normal load which shows that at early stage when the samples are rubbing against the steel plate friction coefficient is 0.27 and after that it increases very steadily up to 0.35. Over duration of minutes, friction coefficient becomes steady and for the rest of the experimental time it remains constant. Friction is low at the early stage of rubbing because of a layer of foreign material on the disc. At early stage of rubbing, oxide layer separates the contacting surfaces and after initial rubbing, the deposited layer breaks up to make true metallic contact. After the running-in process for certain duration, the surface roughness and some other parameters reached to a steady state value and for this reason, there is no change in friction with time. Under normal load conditions results are shown by curves and the applied normal loads 10, 15 and 20 N respectively. During friction process, roughness and other parameters may reach to a certain steady level earlier when the applied load is increased. Variations of friction coefficient with duration of rubbing and in the experiments, When the aluminium is mates with the steel disc friction coefficient is 0.48 at the initial stage of rubbing and after that friction coefficient increases steadily up to 0.55 which remains constant till experimental time. For the applied normal load applied normal load is 10, 15 and 20 N respectively and the sliding velocities for the procedure are 1m/s,1.5m/s and 2m/s. Study shows that normal load increases from 10 to 20 N, coefficient of friction decreases from 0.35 to 0.20 and 0.55 to 0.37 for copper and aluminium respectively. These results are supported by the findings of Dewan show that as the load increases, friction coefficient decreases within the observed range. It is observed that for identical conditions, copper shows much lower friction than aluminium.

35
Friction coefficient varies with rubbing time and this variation at different sliding velocities is shown. In the experiment, copper mated steel disc at normal load 15 N. Results are shown by curves 1, 2 and 3 for 1m/s.1.5m/s and 2m/s respectively. Similarly the curves show the results for aluminium and the curves also plot the relation between these curves for the co-efficient of friction at normal load condition.

Friction coefficient related to different velocities.

Friction related to samples (Al-Cu)

Friction related to normal different loads

Conclusion
From the experiment and study the conclusion obtained: Wear rate increases with the increase in normal load and sliding velocity for both copper and aluminium. At identical condition, wear rate of copper is much lower than that on aluminium for the observed range of normal load and sliding velocity. When the material is loaded lightly or the material is under the action of lesser forces then the wear rate of aluminium. Friction coefficient decreases with the increase in normal load while it increases with the increase in sliding velocity for both copper and aluminium. At identical condition, friction coefficient of copper is much lower than that of aluminium within the observed range of normal load and sliding velocity.

Within the observed range of normal load and sliding velocity, friction coefficient increases with the increase in rubbing time and after that it becomes steady for both copper and aluminium. It is found that during friction process, copper or aluminium disc takes less time to stabilize as the normal load or sliding velocity increases. Moreover, the time to reach steady friction is different for copper or aluminium disc depending on applied normal load or sliding velocity. .