129

Paper 16

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE THERMAL ASPECTS OF

SLIDING CONTACTS AND THEIR RELATION TO THE
UNLUBRICATED WEAR OF STEEL
By T. F. J. Quinn*

Experiments are described in which low-alloy, medium-carbon steel (AISI 4340)pins were slid against discs of
the same material under various loads, at a speed of 625 cmjs. The bulk temperatures of the pins and discs were
measured continuously, as also were the frictional forces and the v01umes of wear. Similar experiments were also
carried out, at a much lower speed (about 5 c m j s ) , in which the bulk temperatures of the specimens were
due almost entirely to externally supplied heat. As far as possible, the bulk temperatures, and the corresponding
loads, were maintained at the same values as for the initial, frictionally heated, experiments. The wear debris
produced during both sets of experiments was examined by X-ray diffraction in order to identify the various
components and to analyse their relative proportions. The variation of the proportions of a-iron, rhombohedra1
oxide, and spinel oxide with measured bulk pin temperature was used to give an estimate of the temperatures
occurring in the regions of true contact. This estimate was approximately of the same magnitude as those
temperatures measured in recent dynamic thermocouple experiments.
The wear results are discussed in terms of oxidation of the real areas of contact at the temperatures indicated
by the proportional analysis of the wear debris. It is shown that reasonable values of the activation energy can
be obtained from a direct comparison between frictionally heated and externally heated experiments carried
out under the same load and the same bulk temperatures. It is concluded that the contact temperature is the
factor governing the wear behaviour of steels rather than the ambient temperature of the whole surface.

INTRODUCTION methods is as direct as it appears. Some assumptions must

THEHIGH RISE in temperature at sliding contacts has been
known for some time (~)j-. There have been many in-
vestigations involving the measurement of the temperature
actually occurring at asperity contacts. These have
normally involved the use of thermocouples either in or
near the surface of the sliding specimens. Such techniques
always require an extrapolation to be made in order to
deduce the temperatwe in the contact. Another technique
has been the dynamic thermocouple, in which the thermo-
electric voltage generated across dissimilar metals is
measured. Furey (2) has more recently applied the
dynamic thcrmocouple method using a constantan ball
riding on a rotating steel cylinder. Another approach to
the problem of measuring the temperature within asperity
contacts is the use of an infrared pyrometer. None of these
The M S . of this paper was received at the Institution on 7th November
1968 and accepted for publication on 15th January 1969. 4
* Lecturer, Department of Physics, University of Aston in Birming-
ham, Gosta Green, Birmingham 4 .
References are given in Appendix 16.1.
Proc lnstn Mech Engrs 1968-69
always be made regarding the direction of heat flow and
the areas through which this flow occurs, i.e. the areas of
real contact. An attractive way of approaching the problem
of measuring contact temperatures is by means of the in-
direct methods involving the study of the changes brought
about in the composition of the surface material in the
regions of real contact by the increased temperatures
occurring during sliding. Since this surface material even-
tually becomes removed in the form of wear debris, the
composition of this debris must also be related to the con-
tact temperature. For instance (3), in the case of the
dry wear of steel, the identification of certain oxides in the
wear debris leads to very rough estimates of the contact
temperature, if one can assume that the temperature at
which a different oxide first appears in bulk oxidation
experiments is also the minimum contact temperature
compatible with the presence of that oxide in the wear
debris. For steels, these transition temperatures are
probably about 200°C for the appearance of the spinel
Vul I83 Pt 3P