Dry Sliding Friction and Wear Behavior of CuZn39Pb2 and AA7075 Under Industrial and Laboratory Conditions

This research aims to complement and enhance the understanding of friction and wear behavior of AA7075 and CuZn39Pb2 under different conditions. One set of experiments were conducted under the laboratory conditions, simulating an ideal case using a ball-on-disc configuration, while the other set of experiments were conducted under the actual field conditions using a pin-on-disc configuration on a newly developed wear test bench. Effect of various tribological parameters such as load, sliding speed and wear track diameter was evaluated on the contact surface temperature, wear loss, wear rate and coefficient of friction. SEM analysis of worn surfaces and the wear track for each alloy were analyzed and compared. Results showed that different surfaces respond differently according to the type of wear test, the nature of material and the operating conditions. Even though, the error deviation in the wear rate calculations under both laboratory and actual field conditions does not exceed 10.75%, the results showed that the actual field conditions cannot be extrapolated from the ideal laboratory operating conditions. However, a comparative case study between an industrial setup and a lab setup shall definitely help in developing a better understanding of the wear behavior of materials by linking field conditions with that of the conditions in a laboratory. Moreover, results from an industrial setup can contribute to providing prototypes for solving industrial problems.