How to measure the real contact area A simple marker and relocation foot-printing approach.pdfVIP

Tribology International 103 (2016) 167–175 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Tribology International journal homepage: /locate/triboint How to measure the real contact area? A simple marker and relocation foot-printing approach Simon Bettscheider, Carsten Gachot, Andreas Rosenkranz n Chair of Functional Materials, Saarland University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Campus D 33, 66123 Saarbruecken, Germany article info Article history: Received 22 February 2016 Received in revised form 9 June 2016 Accepted 25 June 2016 Available online 28 June 2016 Keywords: Contact area Laser surface texturing Foot-printing Marker relocation Image segmentation abstract A marker layer (Au80Pd20) combined with four different techniques was used in order to estimate the real contact area between static steel–steel contact pairing (substrate: AISI304 and ball: AISI 52100). The experiments were done with polished references (substrate and ball) and with substrates having a laserpatterned line-like surface topography using two loads (1 and 5 N) and two pattern periodicities (9 and 15 mm). Irrespective of the normal load, all techniques led to the same results within the standard deviation for the polished surfaces. For the laser-patterns, only the combination of foot-printing, scanning electron microscopy and image segmentation is capable to provide meaningful results, since the other techniques signi?cantly overestimate the real contact area. 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The control of friction are of utmost importance in many technical applications [1]. In bearings or cylinder liner surfaces, friction is intended to be reduced [2]. In contrast to that, in brakes or clutch linings, friction should be increased and remain constant over the life time of the component [3]. It is important to note, that friction is in general not only dependent on inherent material properties but is rather a system response in?uenced by many factors. Abou