An experimental study torsional fretting behaviors of LZ50 steel

Four simple fretting modes are defined according to relative motion: tangential, radial, rotational, and torsional fretting. This paper presents a new test rig that was developed from a low-speed reciprocating rotary system to show torsional fretting wear under ball-on-flat contact. Torsional fretting behavior was investigated for LZ50 steel flats against AISI52100 steel balls under various angular displacement amplitudes and normal loads. The friction torques and dissipation energy were analyzed in detail. Two types of T-theta curves in the shape of quasi-parallelograms and ellipticals were found that correspond to gross and partial slips, respectively. The experimental results showed that the dynamic behavior and damage processes depend strongly on the normal loads, angular displacement amplitudes, and cycles. In this paper, the debris and oxidation behaviors and detachment of particles in partial and gross slip regimes are also discussed. Debris and oxidation are shown to have important roles during the torsional fretting processes. The wear mechanism of torsional fretting was a combination of abrasive and oxidative wear and delamination before third-body bed formation. The mechanism was then transformed into third-body wear after a great amount of debris formed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.