Methodology for Reliable Tribological Investigations Applying a Micro Tribometer in Ball-on-Plate Configuration

Aim of this work is the development of a methodology for reliable tribological investigations when applying a micro tribometer. Experiments were conducted in ball-on-plate configuration with linear reciprocating motion. Two different sphere materials were applied: Al99.9 aluminum alloy and 1.4301 austenitic stainless steel. A textured surface from 1.2379 hardened tool steel machined by micro milling exhibiting an areal arithmetic mean height of Sa = 295 nm was used as counterpart. The experiments comprised of the investigation of the coefficient of friction and the evolution of the facet area on the spheres in contact with the textured surface depending on the normal load applied and the number of reciprocating cycles. For the early stage of the experiments an ongoing increase of the area of the facet on the spheres was found; occurring friction was manly governed by abrasion of the sphere’s material and three-body deformation. This was considered as unstable state of the tribological investigation process, not producing meaningful results. For the later stage equilibrium facet areas on the spheres were found and an ongoing conduction of the tribological experiments did not provoke any increase of their sizes. Here, occurring friction was mainly governed by adhesion. The final facet area on a sphere was directly dependent on the sphere’s materials and the applied normal loads. For all subsequent investigations applying a micro tribometer, only spheres exhibiting an equilibrium facet area should be used to gain robust results of tribological investigations, required for the development of e.g. dry deep drawing processes