TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, G. A1 - Österle, Werner A1 - Jim, B. A1 - Häusler, Ines A1 - Hesse, Rene A1 - Wetzel, B. T1 - The role of surface topography in the evolving microstructure and functionality of tribofilms of an epoxy-based nanocomposite N2 - The topographic effect of steel counterface, finished by mechanical grinding with Ra ranging from 0.01 to 0.95 µm, on the structure and functionality of the tribofilm of a hybrid nanocomposite, i.e. epoxy matrix filled with monodisperse silica nanoparticles, carbon fibers and graphite, was systematically investigated. The nanostructure of the tribofilm was comprehensively characterized by using combined focused ion beam and transmission electron microscope analyses. It was identified that oxidation of the steel surface, release, compaction and tribosintering of silica nanoparticles and deposition of an epoxy-like degradation product as well as fragmentation of carbon fibers are main mechanisms determining the structure and functionality of the tribofilm. The size of roughness grooves determines the type and size class of wear particles to be trapped at the surface. An optimum groove size leading to a maximum of surface coverage with a nanostructured tribofilm formed mainly from released silica nanoparticles was identified. KW - hybrid nanocomposite KW - tribological performance KW - topographic effect KW - tribofilm KW - nanostructure PY - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2016.06.012 VL - 364-365 SP - 48 EP - 56 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-37937 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, G. A1 - Wetzel, B. A1 - Jim, B. A1 - Österle, Werner T1 - Impact of counterface topography on the formation mechanisms of nanostructured tribofilm of PEEK hybrid nanocomposites N2 - The effect of steel counterface topography on the formation mechanisms of nanostructured tribofilms of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) hybrid nanocomposites was studied. Three types of surface finishes with mean roughness Ra ranging from nano- to micro-scale were investigated. Tribo-sintering of nanopartides, oxidation of counterface steel and compaction of wear debris are identified to be competing factors dominating the formation and function of the tribofilms. Counterface topography played an important role on the competing factors, and thereby influenced significantly the final structure, the load-carrying capability and the lubrication performance of the tribofilms. It was disclosed that a thin tribofilm, which mainly consists of silica nanoparticles and which forms on the counterface with a submicron roughness, benefits best the tribological performance of the composites KW - Surface topography KW - Nanocomposite KW - Tribology KW - Tribofilm PY - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2014.11.015 SN - 0301-679X VL - 83 SP - 156 EP - 165 PB - Butterworth-Heinemann CY - Oxford AN - OPUS4-34612 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, G. A1 - Häusler, Ines A1 - Österle, Werner A1 - Wetzel, B. A1 - Jim, B. T1 - Formation and function mechanisms of nanostructured tribofilms of epoxy-based hybrid nanocomposites N2 - The nanostructures and properties of the tribofilms of epoxy (EP) composites filled with short carbon fibers (SCF) and different volume fractions of monodisperse silica nanoparticles were investigated. When the conventional composite filled only with SCF was considered under a high pv condition, an iron oxide layer is formed on the steel counterface. The addition of even only 0.05 vol% nano-silica leads to a significant change of the tribofilm's structure and the tribological behavior of the composite. With increasing silica content, the oxidation layer on the steel surface is gradually replaced by a silica-based tribofilm. A close relationship between the tribofilms’ structure and the tribological behavior of the composites was identified. Mixing, possible reactions and tribo-sintering of silica nanoparticles with other wear products are deemed to be main mechanisms inducing the formation and the lubricity of the silica-based tribofilm. KW - Polymer-matrix composite KW - Sliding wear KW - Tribofilm KW - Nanoparticles KW - Tribo-sintering PY - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2015.08.025 SN - 0043-1648 VL - 342-343 SP - 181 EP - 188 PB - Elsevier B.V. CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-34442 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Österle, Werner A1 - Dmitriev, A. I. A1 - Wetzel, B. A1 - Zhang, G. A1 - Häusler, Ines A1 - Jim, B.C. T1 - The role of carbon fibers and silica nanoparticles on friction and wear reduction of an advanced polymer matrix composite N2 - Excellent tribological properties of an advanced polymer matrix composite were obtained by a combination of micro- and nano-sized fillers. Surface features and the nanostructure of tribofilms were characterized by advanced microscopic techniques, and correlated with the macroscopic behavior in terms of wear rate and friction evolution. A model based on movable cellular automata was applied for obtaining a better understanding of the sliding behavior of the nanostructured tribofilms. The failure of the conventional composite without silica nanoparticles could be attributed to severe oxidational wear after degradation of an initially formed polymer transfer film. The hybrid composite preserves its antiwear and antifriction properties because flash temperatures at micron-sized carbon fibers, lead to polymer degradation and subsequent release of nanoparticles. It has been shown that the released particles are mixed with other wear products and form stable films at the disc surface thus preventing further severe oxidational wear. Furthermore, the released wear product also is embedding carbon fibers at the composite surface thus preventing fiber fragmentation and subsequent third body abrasion. With nanoscale modelling we were able to show that low friction and wear can be expected if the nanostructured silica films contain at least 10 vol.% of a soft ingredient. KW - Carbon fibers KW - Silica nanoparticles KW - Hybrid composite KW - Tribological properties KW - Tribofilm KW - Sliding simulation PY - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2015.12.175 SN - 0264-1275 VL - 93 SP - 474 EP - 484 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-35598 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Qi, H. A1 - Zhang, G. A1 - Wetzel, B. A1 - Wang, T. A1 - Wang, Q. A1 - Österle, Werner T1 - Exploring the influence of counterpart materials on tribological behaviors of epoxy composites N2 - The dependence of the friction and wear of epoxy (EP) composites materials on counterpart materials, such as standard bearing steel, medium carbon steel and chrome-plating (Cr), was investigated. The conventional composite filled with short carbon fiber (SCF) and graphite shows the highest tribological performance when rubbing against Cr, whereas, the hybrid nanocomposite (EP filled with SCF, graphite and silica nanoparticles) exhibits the lowest friction and wear when sliding against the standard bearing steel. The role of nanoparticles in the tribological performance is distinctly different when sliding against with various counterpart materials. It is demonstrated that counterpart materials exert an important influence on material transfer, tribo-oxidation and mechanical mixing of wear products, resulting in the different formation mechanisms of transfer film. KW - Counterpart materials KW - Transfer film KW - Epoxy composites KW - Nanoparticles PY - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2016.08.015 VL - 103 SP - 566 EP - 573 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-37941 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Österle, Werner A1 - Dmitriev, A.I. A1 - Gradt, Thomas A1 - Häusler, Ines A1 - Hammouri, Basem A1 - Morales Guzman, Pablo Israel A1 - Wetzel, B. A1 - Yigit, D. A1 - Zhang, G. T1 - Exploring the beneficial role of tribofilms formed from an epoxy-based hybrid nanocomposite N2 - The composition and nanostructure of a beneficial tribofilm formed during sliding of a hybrid nanocomposite against steel were characterized comprehensively. A similar nanostructure was produced by high energy ball milling of the three identified tribofilm constituents: silica, hematite and graphite. By supplying powders to a pin-on-disc test it has been shown that neither silica, nor hematite, nor a mixture of both provide the low coefficient of friction (COF) observed for the hybrid composite. Only if graphite was blended with the oxides, the low COF was obtained. Thus, a film of finely dispersed stable inorganic wear products containing 15 vol% graphite provides low friction and wear in the considered case. KW - TEM KW - Nanocomposite KW - Tribofilm KW - Ball milling KW - Pin-on-disc test PY - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2015.03.006 SN - 0301-679X VL - 88 SP - 126 EP - 134 PB - Butterworth-Heinemann CY - Oxford AN - OPUS4-33035 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Österle, Werner A1 - Giovannozzi, A. A1 - Gradt, Thomas A1 - Häusler, Ines A1 - Rossi, A. A1 - Wetzel, B. A1 - Zhang, G. A1 - Dmitriev, A.I. T1 - Exploring the potential of Raman spectroscopy for the identification of silicone oil residue and wear scar characterization for the assessment of tribofilm functionality N2 - We applied a combination of Raman spectroscopy (RS) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (X-TEM) to identify silicone oil residues and tribofilms at steel disc surfaces after tribological testing. Neither chemical cleaning nor mechanical removal of a 50 µm thick surface layer produced a surface without any silicone residue. Nevertheless, long-term tribological properties are not affected due to silicone degradation which has been proved by Raman spectroscopy. Excellent anti-wear and anti-friction properties of a nanocomposite at severe stressing conditions correlated with the formation of a silica-based tribofilm containing amorphous and graphite-like carbon nanoparticles. Since reliable carbon quantification by analytical TEM is difficult, RS is a useful complementary method for carbon identification at wear scars. KW - Raman spectroscopy KW - Cross-sectional TEM KW - Silicone oil residue KW - Tribofilm PY - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2015.04.046 SN - 0301-679X VL - 90 SP - 481 EP - 490 PB - Butterworth-Heinemann CY - Oxford AN - OPUS4-33421 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dmitriev, A. I. A1 - Häusler, Ines A1 - Wetzel, B. A1 - Zhang, G. A1 - Österle, Werner T1 - Modeling of the stress-strain behavior of an epoxy-based nanocomposite filled with silica nanoparticles N2 - The method of movable cellular automata (MCA) was applied to simulate the stress-strain behavior of a nano composite consisting of an epoxy matrix and 6 vol. % silica nano particles. The size of the elements used for modelling was fixed at 10 nm, corresponding approximately to the diameter of the filler particles. Since not only the stress-strain response of the two constituents but also debonding of neighboring particles and granular flow was taken into account, plastic deformation as well as crack initiation and propagation could be simulated with the model. Modelling results were compared with tensile test results of both, pure epoxy as well as the epoxy-6 vol. % SiO2 composite. Since assuming bulk properties of the two constituents did not yield satisfactory results, slight modifications of the nanoparticle response functions and nanostructures were tested numerically. Finally, it was observed that only the assumption of slightly increased strength properties of the epoxy yielded good correlation between experimental and modelling results. This was attributed to an increased cross linking of the epoxy caused by the presence of silica nano particles. KW - Nanocomposite KW - Polymer matrix composite KW - Stress-strain behavior KW - Modeling KW - Computational mechanics PY - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2015.10.038 SN - 0264-1275 VL - 89 SP - 950 EP - 956 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-35596 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dmitriev, A.I. A1 - Österle, Werner A1 - Wetzel, B. A1 - Zhang, G. T1 - Mesoscale modeling of the mechanical and tribological behavior of a polymer matrix composite based on epoxy and 6 vol.% silica nanoparticles N2 - A model based on movable cellular automata (MCA) is described and applied for simulating the stress–strain and sliding behavior of a nanocomposite consisting of an epoxy matrix and 6 vol.% of homogeneously distributed silica nanoparticles. Tensile tests were used for verification of the model. It was realized that a slight modification of epoxy properties due to the addition of silica nanoparticles had to be taken into account in order to obtain good correlation between experimental and modeling results. On the other hand, sliding simulations revealed no susceptibility of results to slight modifications of matrix properties, but a significant impact of nanoparticles on the interface structure and smoothness of sliding mechanism. Furthermore, assuming both possibilities, bond breaking and rebinding of automata pairs, can explain different friction levels of polymer materials. KW - Nanocomposite KW - Stress–strain behavior KW - Movable cellular automata KW - Sliding simulation KW - Mechanically mixed layer KW - Coefficient of friction PY - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2015.08.029 SN - 0927-0256 VL - 110 SP - 204 EP - 214 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-34013 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -