Characteristic of Friction on Texturing Bearing Steel with Ultrasonic Hole Machine

Abstract

− We carry out experiments to characterize textured bearing steel with varying hole density and depth. Textured surface is believed to reduce the friction coefficient, and improve performance and wearing caused by third-body contact. We employ three lubrication regime conditions based on the Stribeck curve: boundary lubrication , mixed lubrication, and hydrodynamic lubrication. Ultrasonic machining is an untraditional machining method wherein abrasive grit particles are used. The hammering process on the work piece surface by abrasive provides the desired form. In this study, we create multi-holes on the bearing steel surface for texturing purposes. Holes are formed by an ultrasonic machine with a diameter of 0.534 mm and a depth of about 2-4 mm, and they are distributed on the contact surface with a density between 1.37-2.23%. The hole density over the surface area is an important factor affecting the friction. We test nine types of textured specimens using four times replication and compare them with the untextured specimen using graphs, as well as photographs taken using a scanning electron microscope. We use Analyzes variant in this experiment to find the correlation between each pair of treatments. Finally, we report the effect of hole density and depth on the friction coefficient.