Fundamentals of Tribotesting
(2000)
Tribology is an experiment-oriented branch of a complex, interdisciplinary science, in which testing plays a major role in the solution of technical problems, in the field as well as in the development of tribomaterials. Various test methods are used for this purpose, and the results are sensitive to the choice of test method and test conditions.
In this paper, the effects of test parameters on friction and wear results are considered, some selected results of model tests with different types of materials are presented, and guidelines are derived, that help improve the reliability and level of confidence of tribological tests performed in laboratories.
The friction and wear behaviour of SiC, Si3N4 and SiC/Si3N4 composite ceramics were investigated with oscillating sliding (gross slip fretting) at room temperature. The influence of counter body material and the humidity of the surrounding air was studied with a ball-on-disc configuration with different ball materials (1000Cr6, Al2O3 SiC and Si3N4). The effect of RH on friction is marginal with exception of SiC (low friction) as counter body material. The wear behaviour, however, is strongly affected by humidity, showing inverse trends for different counter body materials. Consequently, the wear behaviour of a tribo couple can be improved by selecting an adequate mating material. The results reveal the necessity to control RH in tribological tests. For estimation of the performance of tribo couples under varying environmental conditions, a variation of RH is required. In tribo couples with single phase SiC, either as ball or disc, the tribological behaviour of the system is dominated by SiC. The friction behaviour of the composite material is in between the behaviour of the two single phase materials, Si3N4 and SiC, whereas the wear behaviour is very similar to that of single phase Si3N4.