Towards a model for the number of airborne particles generated from a sliding contact

Recently, much attention has been given to the influence of airborne particles in the atmosphere on human health. Sliding contacts are a significant source of airborne particles in urban environments. Airborne particles may be generated by disc brakes and wheel-rail contacts. This paper presents a new model for determining the number of airborne particles generated by a sliding contact. Previously presented data from a pin-on-disc tribometer equipped with airborne particle counting instrumentation was used to verify the model. The derived particle rate is proportional to the load for the ball bearing steel material evaluated. Furthermore, the model incorporates three particle regimes with distinct number peaks; one with ultra fine particles with a peak around 0.08 μm, one with fine particles with a peak around 0.35 μm and one with coarse particles with a peak around 2 μm, that can be used to rank the number of generated particles from different material combinations and contact conditions.