• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.218-223
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• 2014

This paper presents a method of controlling the stiffness of a tungsten probe for an atomic force microscope (AFM) in order to provide high-quality phase contrast images in accordance with sample characteristics. While inducing sufficient deformation on sample surfaces with commercial Si or $Si_3N_4$ probes is difficult because of their low stiffness, a tungsten probe fabricated by electrochemical etching with appropriately high stiffness can generate relatively large elastic deformation without damaging sample surfaces. The fabrication of the tungsten probe involves two separate procedures. The first procedure involves immersing a tungsten wire with both ends bent parallel to the surface of an electrolyte and controlling the stiffness of the tungsten cantilever by decreasing its diameter using electrochemical etching in the direction of the central axis. The second procedure involves immersing the end of the etched tungsten cantilever in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the electrolyte and fabricating a tungsten tip with a tip radius of 20-50 nm via the necking phenomenon. The latter etching process applies pulse waves every 0.25 seconds to the manufactured tip to improve its yield. Finite element analysis (FEA) of the stiffness of the tungsten probe as a function of its diameter showed that the stiffness of the tungsten probes greatly varies from 56 N/m to 3501 N/m according to the cantilever diameters from $30{\mu}m$ to $100{\mu}m$, respectively. Thus, the proposed etching method is effective for producing a tungsten probe having specific stiffness for optimal use with an AFM and certain samples.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2014

The temperature-dependent tribological properties of brake discs for a train were examined in this study. The discs were produced using heat-resistant alloy steel, which showed different thermal conductivity after the heat treatments. A commercial brake friction material was used to evaluate the friction effectiveness, and the friction tests were carried out using a 1/5 scale dynamometer under various initial braking temperature conditions. The results showed that the tribological property of the disc was strongly affected by the heat treatment schedule. At low temperatures (below $250^{\circ}C$), the friction coefficient increased as a function of disc temperature, indicating that frictional heat increased the adhesion between the disc and pad. In addition, fade was observed at high temperatures (above $250^{\circ}C$); it was pronounced in the case of the disc with low thermal conductivity. The different fade resistances observed in the discs with different heat treatment schedules appear to be influenced by microstructural changes such as carbide redistribution occurring during the heat treatments, which affected the thermal conductivity.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 1999

The processing conditions fur the synthesis of platelet W $S_2$ lubricant powder through a solid-gas reaction were optimized. The mixture of tungsten and sulfur powders were sealed in a vacuum of 10$^{-6}$ torr, prior to heat-treating at 85$0^{\circ}C$ fur 8 days. The reaction product showed a well-developed platelet W $S_2$ powder with an average size of 3.8 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. The TGA/DTA analysis of the synthesized W $S_2$ powder was performed up to 120$0^{\circ}C$ at a rate of 1$0^{\circ}C$/min in flowing air (100 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$/min) atmosphere. The weight loss was about 6% up to 120$0^{\circ}C$ compared to the original weight. A rapid weight loss of about 5% occurred in the temperature range of 44$0^{\circ}C$ to 66$0^{\circ}C$ and an exothermic peak observed due to the transition of W $S_2$ to W $O_3$. The synthesized W $S_2$powder was coated on the commercial deep grooved ball bearing (No. 6203) to examine the effect of W $S_2$, coating layer on the noise and endurance of the ball bearing. The level of noise obtained from W $S_2$, coated-ball bearing (56 ㏈) was higher. than the value (32 ㏈) occurred in the case of greece lubrication. The endurance of the ball-bearing assembled after the coating of W $S_2$ powder onto each part increased 50 times compared to the non-coated ball-bearing..

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.303-310
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• 2014

In order to reduce friction and improve reliability, researchers have applied various surface texturing methods to highly sliding machine elements such as mechanical seals and piston rings. Despite extensive theoretical research on surface texturing, previous numerical results are only applicable to isothermal and iso-viscous conditions. Because the lubricant flow pattern of textured bearing surfaces is much more complicated than that for non-textured bearings, the Navier?Stokes equation is more suitable than the Reynolds equation for the former. This study carries out a thermohydrodynamic (THD) lubrication analysis to investigate the lubrication characteristics of a single micro-dimpled parallel thrust bearing cell. The analysis involves using the continuity, Navier?Stokes, energy, temperature?viscosity relation, and heat conduction equations with the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. This study discretizes these equations using the finite volume method and solves them using the SIMPLE algorithm. The results include finding the streamlines, pressure and temperature distributions, and variations in the friction force and leakage for various dimple radii and depths. Increasing the dimple radius and decreasing the depth causes a recirculation flow to form because of a strong vortex, and the oil temperature greatly increases compared with the non-textured case. The present numerical scheme and results are applicable to THD analysis of various surface-textured sliding bearings and can lead to further study.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.125-131
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• 2016

In recent years, thick ta-C coating has attracted considerable interest owing to its existing and potential commercial importance in applications such as automobile accessories, drills, and gears. The thickness of the ta-C coating is an important parameter in these applications. However, the biggest problems are achieving efficient coating and uniformity over a large area with high-speed deposition. Feasibility is confirmed for the ta-C coating thickness of up to 9.0 µm (coating speed: 3.0 µm/h, fixed substrate) using a single FCVA cathode. The thickness was determined using multiple coating cycles that were controlled using substrate temperature and residual stresses. In the present research, we have designed a coating system using FCVA plasma and produced enhanced thick ta-C coating. The system uses a specialized magnetic field configuration with stabilized DC arc plasma discharge during deposition. To achieve quality that is acceptable for use in automobile accessories, the magnetic field, T-type filters, and 10 pieces of a multi-cathode are used to demonstrate the deposition of the thick ta-C coating. The results of coating performance indicate that uniformity is ±7.6 , deposited area is 400 mm, and the thickness of the ta-C coating is up to 5.0 µm (coating speed: 0.3 µm/h, revolution and rotation). The hardness of the coating ranges from 30 to 59 GPa, and the adhesion strength level (HF1) ranges from 20 to 60 N, depending on the ta-C coating.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.207-213
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• 2017

In sliding bearings, viscous friction due to high shear acting on the bearing surface raises the oil temperature. One of the mechanisms responsible for generating the load-carrying capacity in parallel surfaces is known as the viscosity wedge effect. In this paper, we investigate the effect of film-temperature boundary conditions on the thermohydrodynamic (THD) lubrication of parallel slider bearings. For this purpose, the continuity equation, Navier-Stokes equation, and the energy equation with temperature-viscosity-density relations are numerically analyzed using the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. Two different film-temperature boundary conditions are adopted to investigate the pressure generation mechanism. The temperature and viscosity distributions in the film thickness and flow directions were obtained, and the factors related to the pressure generation in the equation of motion were examined in detail. It was confirmed that the temperature gradients in the film and flow directions contribute heavily to the thermal wedge effect, due to which parallel slider bearing can not only support a considerable load but also reduce the frictional force, and its effect is significantly changed with the film-temperature boundary conditions. The present results can be used as basic data for THD analysis of surface-textured sliding bearings; however, further studies on various film-temperature boundary conditions are required.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.101-105
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• 2016

Trap effect of groove is evaluated in a lubricating system using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. The simulation is based on the standard k-ε turbulence model and the discrete phase model (DPM) using a commercial CFD code FLUENT. The simulation results are also capable of showing the particle trajectories in flow field. Computational domain is meshed using the GAMBIT pre-processor. The various grooves are applied in order to improve lubrication characteristics such as reduction of friction loss, increase in load carrying capacity, and trapping of the wear particles. Trap effect of groove is investigated with variations in cross-sectional shape and Reynolds number in this research. Various cross-sectional shapes of groove (rectangular, triangle, U shaped, trapezoid, elliptical shapes) are considered to evaluate the trap effect in simplified two-dimensional sliding bearing. The particles are assumed to steel, and defined a single particle injection condition in various positions. The “reflect” boundary condition for discrete phase is applied to the wall boundary, and the “escape” boundary condition to “pressure inlet” and “pressure outlet” conditions. The streamlines are compared with particles trajectories in the groove. From the results of numerical analysis in the study, it is found that the cross-sectional shapes favorable to the creation of vortex and small eddy current are effective in terms of particle trapping effect. Moreover, it is found that the Reynolds number has a strong influence on the pattern of vortex or small eddy current in the groove, and that the pattern of the vortex or small eddy current affects the trap effect of the groove.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.255-263
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• 2008

Adhesion tests were conducted to investigate the adhesion characteristics between mold and thermoplastic polymer film. Coating of anti-sticking layer (ASL), a kind of polymer material, imprint pressure, and separation velocity were considered as the process conditions. A piece of fused silica without patterns on its surface was used as a mold and the thermoplastic polymer films were made on Si substrate by spin-coating the commercial polymer solution such as mr-I PMMA and mr-I 7020. The ASL was derived from (1H, 1H, 2H, 2H - perfluorooctyl) trichlorosilane($F_{13}$-OTS) and coated on the fused silica mold in vapor phase. The pull-off force was measured in various process conditions and the surfaces of the mold and the polymer film were observed after separation. It was found that the adhesion characteristics between the mold and the thermoplastic polymer film and the release performance of ASL were changed according to the process conditions. The ASL was effective to reduce the pull-off force and the damage of polymer film. In cases of the mold coated with ASL, the pull-off force did not depend on imprint pressure and separation velocity.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.117-124
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• 2021

In this study, we perform a 3D CFD conjugate analysis according to the shape of the foil ramp of the air foil thrust bearing, analyze the flow characteristics inside the bearing, and compare the results corresponding to the two shapes. Air has a lower viscosity than lubricating oil. Therefore, the thrust runner of the bearing must rotate at high speed to support the load. The gap between thrust runner and foil is significantly smaller than that of the oil bearing. Hence, it is crucial to analyze the complex flow characteristics inside the bearing to predict the complex flow inside the bearing and performance of the bearing. In addition, flow characteristics may appear differently depending on the ramp shape of the bearing foil, which may affect bearing performance. In this study, we numerically analyze the main flow path of air flowing into the bearing and the secondary flow path used for cooling the bearing using the commercial CFD software ANSYS CFX and compare the flow characteristics for straight and curved foil ramp shapes. Notably, there is a difference in the speed of the flowing air according to the shape of the ramp, which affects the bearing performance.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.27-31
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• 2022

Harmonic drives have attracted increasing attention with the development of materials, parts, and related equipment. Harmonic drives exhibit high deceleration, high accuracy, and light weight. The stiffness of flexible splines according to the radial load is studied using a commercial FEM program to design the structure of the flexible spline and finite element to improve the weight and price competitiveness of harmonic drives. In addition, several studies have measured and compared friction coefficients based on 3D printed tread patterns. However, owing to the characteristics of plastic materials, a decrease in stiffness in the radial direction is inevitable. To prevent a decrease in stiffness in the radial direction, we designed and manufactured flex splines with a wrinkle shape. Through structural analysis, the reaction force and stiffness in the radial direction were determined. In addition, the maximum angle of the mound was derived by theoretical calculations, and the performance of the harmonic drive was compared with the results obtained in the mound experiment. Structural analysis shows that the shape of wrinkles decreased the stress and reaction force and increased the safety factor in comparison with that of the circular shape. During performance verification through continuous experiments, the developed harmonic drive showed continuous performance similar to that of an actual tank model. It is expected that the flex spline with a compliant spring and wrinkle shape will prevent a decrease in the radial stiffness.