Prediction of Running-in Behavior for Point Contacts under Mixed Lubrication

Tribology concentrates on wear, lubrication, and friction of interacting surfaces in relative motion. Wear, which is the major reason of material dissipation, evolves in three separate stages: severe wear, steady-state, and running-in. Running-in has an important role in the loss of material performance and this process inducts the progress of the key tribological parameters. Hence, the running-in behaviour of a tribocomponent experiencing point contact in a mixed lubrication regime is inquired both experimentally and theoretically. The transient coefficient of the wear pending the running-in is predicted by using the continuum damage mechanics approach. Predictions involve the use of the load-sharing implication, taking into account the contribution of the asperities and the lubricant. The experimental work entails dynasties of pin-on-disk tests. Comparisons of the theoretical prediction and experimental tests of friction coefficient and wear coefficient are found to be in good agreement. In cases in which continuum damage mechanics— which computes the possibility that an asperity creates a wear particle and uses this data to infer a phrase for the coefficient of the wear— can forestall the volume of the wear with an error of less than 30%.