Flash temperature measurement during dry friction process at high sliding speed

An experimental method is presented in this paper to measure flash temperatures of sliding surfaces. High sliding velocities are reached by using a ballistic set-up equipped with a high speed camera. The temperature field on the friction surface was recorded during the process. Tests were conducted under dry sliding conditions by using an identical material for the rubbing bodies, which are of middle hard steel (C22). Experiments showed that the temperature distribution generated by frictional heating is made up of small hot spots that correspond to the friction of asperities located on the sliding surface during very short time. Deduced from observations, maximum local surface temperatures can exceed about 1100 °C around an area less than 100 μm in diameter.