Assessing the Wear of the Oxide Layer of a Spindle-neck Coating with a Collapsed Balloon Crown

Abstract

The results of an investigation into the wear of the spindle-neck coating with a collapsed balloon crown of a ring-spinning frame during mating with the yarn under industrial conditions is presented. The investigation included examining the wear of the spindle-neck coating made of aluminum alloy 2024, which was subjected to the following different methods of finishing: grinding with abrasive cloth, burnishing only, and burnishing followed by hard anodic oxidation. The analysis of the process of wear and the thickness of the oxide layer before and after the operation has confirmed that the oxide layer increases the wear resistance by several orders of magnitude. It was also concluded that hard anodic oxidation gives the spindle-neck coating a durability equal to the lifetime of the bearing inserts. We assessed the surface topography by means of microphotography, the yarn kinetic friction coefficient µk, and the microstructure of the oxide layer before and after the period of operation. This allowed us to find out that the wear of the spindle-neck coating caused by the friction of yarn on the surfaces is determined by the abrasive wear. © 2008, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.